A Love's Sacrifice
by Aastha Panit
Summary: Complete! With the heavy losses in the war, things are looking pretty bleak for the Order. Even the once fiery and optimistic Hermione Granger has lost hope. But can the return of a face she never wanted to see again change all that? like a long oneshot
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all of you who are reading this! Believe it or not, I am back with a new story. I'm sorry it took so long. I've just been so busy with school (yes, even in the summer with 8 weeks of summer school) but I am very happy to say that I am now finished writing this story and can now post it!**

**This was originally meant to be a one-shot but I really felt the need to develop a lot so its near 60 pages and I decided to instead make it a few chapter story. I won't be posting it all at once, but I promise you guys an update every 2-3 days. After all, it's all done but for a few changes I want to make to the ending so it doesn't sound too cheesy.**

**Thanks to all of you who've bared with me and waited for this story and to those of you who are willing to give it a shot. I hope I don't disappoint! **

**Before I even bore you before you begin reading, let me end on three quick notes. Number 1, please drop a review to let me know what you think. Number 2, if you believe this story fits in other categories besides romance, do let me know because I was undecided on that.**

**And most importantly, three: Enjoy!**

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_A Love's Sacrifice: Chapter 1_

Life. Death.

Two simple words with such complex and significant meaning. Two words that mean such opposite things, and yet it takes only one second to go from the first to the second. One moment you could be living life to the fullest, pursuing your dreams and enjoying the beauty of life; the next moment, you could be holding on to dear life as if you were dangling from a cliff, wondering as each breath passes if it shall be your last.

It's quite strange really how these two opposing words, two concepts, in fact, make up our lives. But for Hermione Granger, life _was_ death, not something separate. Sometimes she wondered if death was even _better_ than the life she lived now. And if someone as optimistic and hopeful as Hermione Granger is thinking thoughts like these, something must be wrong.

And indeed, something _was_ wrong. Actually, not something, _everything_. _Everything_ was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

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"_All of you who stand here before me today know how important the coming months and even maybe the coming years will be. Voldemort may have finally succeeded in ending the life of the one man he feared most, the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, Professor Albus Dumbledore. But this does not mean Voldemort has ended the loyalty people have to Dumbledore and his cause._

_Today, we stand here, full of hope and determination. As Order members, all of us have dedicated ourselves to putting an end to Voldemort and his Death Eaters. You may hear people on the street talking about how the Dark Side may indeed win. Let me tell you something. They're wrong. Because we have something the Dark Side doesn't. Death Eaters are loyal to Voldemort because they fear him. If it weren't for this fear, they would not be unified. We, on the other hand, are loyal to Dumbledore's cause, the Order's cause, because we want to, not because we are forced to. We are doing this out of choice because we believe in what we're fighting for. It is this that separates us from them; it is this belief and determination that unifies us, not fear. It is this belief and determination that is our strength._

_I know this isn't going to be easy, but I assure you, this will be worth it. There will be a lot to sacrifice but we will have to stay strong no matter what the situation. Remember, we are fighting for a cause that will bring peace to the Wizarding World for good. We are fighting for a cause that will allow Hogwarts to reopen and never have to close its doors again. We are fighting for a cause that shall destroy Voldemort once and for all!"_

_The room erupted in cheers as Harry Potter finished his speech. They were no longer Hogwarts students; they were Order members. Hogwarts had been closed down half way through seventh year so teachers and students in the Order alike could focus just on the war. Now, three months later, the new Order members were done with their extra training. They were ready to get into battle, to take on missions, to do whatever it is that needs to be done to win the war. _

_Harry muttered small thanks to all the people who commended him for his speech as he made his way to the back of the room where Ron and Hermione were standing._

_As he approached, Ron said, "What a speech Harry! You should have seen them. They were hanging on to your every word."_

"_Yes, terrific job Harry. You're a born leader." Hermione added, smiling._

"_Thanks. Now let's enjoy tonight because tomorrow the real work begins. If everything goes according to plan, the three of us will be off looking for the remaining Horcruxes by tomorrow night."_

_Just as Harry finished speaking, Colin Creevey and a group of his friends came towards him. Colin immediately began introducing Harry to all his friends and before Harry knew it, he was being helplessly dragged away against his will as Hermione and Ron looked on amusedly._

"_Poor Harry!" Hermione said but couldn't help but laugh at him anyway._

"_Yeah…hey, don't you find it interesting that mostly everyone who joined the Order is a Gryffindor? I mean there are only a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. As for the Slytherins, all of them stupidly followed their parent's footsteps; well, except Malfoy. By the way, where is Malfoy? I haven't seen him since last week, now that I think about it."_

_The smile on Hermione's face quickly left and hurt flashed into her eyes. But a second later, all traces of this change in expression were gone. Quickly changing the subject, she said,_

"_Let's go get something to drink."_

And with that, the memory ended and was replaced by another:

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione Apparated to 12 Grimmauld Place after what seemed like forever. After five painstaking months, the Trio had finally destroyed all the Horcruxes._

_As they entered, they were surprised to see a majority of the Order members present. Harry and Ron thought nothing of it but Hermione immediately sensed something amiss. Spotting Ginny, she quickly rushed over to her and embraced her in a hug._

"_Hey Ginny! It's so good to see you. What's going on here?"_

"_Hey Hermione. You guys came just in time. The funeral is about to start."_

_Hermione looked at her in alarm. At closer inspection, Hermione realized that Ginny's eyes were a bit teary._

"_Funeral? What happened?"_

"_Didn't you see the papers? There was a Death Eater attack at Knockturn Alley last week. The Order had gone there to fight them off and D..d…" Ginny couldn't find the words to say it._

"_And?" Hermione asked urgently. Harry and Ron had realized something was wrong and were now standing by Hermione, listening._

"_Dean Thomas was killed!" Ginny was barely able to choke it out before the tears that were sitting in her eyes fell. Harry took her in his arms to comfort her._

_Ron looked stunned. "I can't believe it. I never really thought about the fact…"_

"…_that young Order members like us were going to die." Hermione finished for him. "Me neither. I mean I knew we would have losses but I didn't realize that our own classmates and friends will be the ones who die."_

_Ron nodded mutely._

"_We have to stay strong. Just like Harry said in his speech, sacrifices will have to be made but in the end it will be worth it."_

_The impact of Dean's death was huge. Apparently, many of them had forgotten that there would definitely have to be losses because this was war. It was this revelation that slowly began to deteriorate the will-power and hope they had started with_

_For Hermione, it was the beginning of much pain and suffering. _

The memory slowly faded, but images of those who had followed Dean were quick to take its place:

_Seamus Finnigan_

_Lavender Brown_

_Hannah Abbott_

_Colin Creevey_

_Padma Patil_

_Cho Chang_

_Neville Longbottom_

_Luna Lovegood_

_Viktor Krum_

The last name brought on a memory too vivid, too upsetting for comfort:

_Hermione Apparated to Diagon Alley as soon as she had heard Viktor and other Order members were in danger. When she arrived in the alleyway, though, she knew she was too late. Viktor was lying on the ground, not moving in the least bit except for his chest heaving every once in a while as he strained to breathe. He lay in a pool of his own blood, never a good sign. He was losing blood too quickly._

_Hermione gasped at the sight and rushed over to him. His eyes wearily opened as Hermione gently lifted his head off the ground to help him breathe. Tears were sparkling in her eyes. She couldn't help it. She could no longer exercise self control. It was just too much to bear._

_Viktor smiled faintly as "Hermione" escaped from his lips. Hermione panicked as his breath became more strained and began to desperately call out for help._

_What stopped her was the weakness yet urgency in Viktor's voice as he called her again._

"_Hermione, it's no use. Don't waste your energy". His thick Bulgarian accent had all but faded as he had spent more time in London, helping the Order._

"_I know a Dark Curse when I see one, Hermione. There is nothing you can do to save me," he said sadly._

_The tears began to trickle down her face. If she had been thinking rationally, she would have known there was no way to save him. But Hermione was desperate. She couldn't bear losing yet another friend, especially one that had become so close in the past few months. It he died, it would be one of the most painful deaths she had ever faced._

_At seeing her tears, Viktor mustered up energy to raise his hand to her face, and, although his fingers trembled, he gently wiped each tear that had fallen._

"_Hermione, don't cry. This is War. You have to accept reality. This was going to come some day. I'm just glad I was able to live my last few moments with one of my closest friends". He again sent her a faint smile. He was ready to die. He had accepted it. All he needed to do before he left life behind forever was to make Hermione promise something._

"_Hermione, I only have one thing to ask of you."_

_Hermione nodded her head fiercely, angrily wiping her tears away. She managed to say in a relatively forceful voice, "Anything, Viktor"._

"_Promise me that you won't give up. Promise me that you won't rest until Voldemort is gone from this world. Promise me, Hermione, that you will never completely lose your hope and fire, because with it, you, Harry, and Ron can achieve anything. I know you can. I believe in you, Hermione."_

_Hermione held his right hand in her own and gazed at him intently. "I won't let you down, Viktor."_

_He smiled one last time."I know you won't, Herm-own-ninny. Thank you. Thank you for being such a good friend."_

_Hermione had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop herself from wailing as a new batch of tears threatened to fall. She had not heard him call her that in such a long time. It reminded her of the past and it reminded her that this would be the last time she would ever hear it from his lips again._

_And with one last squeeze of her hand, he closed his eyes and let death consume him._

The flashback brought along a whole new level of pain and grief, but the memories were not yet done with their haunting. The worst was still to come: a memory that was heart-wrenching and devastating to remember; a death the memories had yet to bring up:

"_Harry, Ron, Hermione, I'm going to go with this group of Order members. Wait for about five minutes and then join us in the battle." Remus Lupin told them in an urgent voice._

_The three nodded and with one last look at them, he nodded and began shouting orers to the Order members he would be taking into battle with him._

_Remus finally shouted, "Apparate", and with a huge pp, Grimmauld Place suddenly became very quiet. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were now alone. They all knew how serious a battle this was, and so they grabbed their wands and put on their cloaks in silence._

_Ron had finished first, so he quietly made his way towards the window and starred out of it, his mind quickly lost in thought._

_Harry and Hermione finished getting ready not long after. When Ron didn't turn to acknowledge them, they looked at each other, confused, and then walked over to the window to get Ron out of his trance._

_Harry was about to place a hand on his shoulder when Ron's voice stopped him._

_Never once taking his gaze off the window, Ron spoke, "Today's battle is a big one. The biggest we've ever fought. And with big battles come big losses. You guys understand this, don't you?"_

_Hermione's eye sparkled with tears as she nodded her head, but for once, it was because of pride. Ron had grown and matured so much. He was no longer a hot-tempered, irrational, spider-fearing teen. Now near six feet, he was a thoughtful and reflective adult, one who had more sense than anyone could imagine._

_Harry spoke for both of them. "Of course we understand that, Ron."_

_Still facing the window, his back to both Harry and Hermione, he continued, "Good, because if anything happens to me today…"_

_Hermione cut him off before he could continue. She put a hand on his shoulder and in a voice that sounded near pleading, she said, "Don't say that, Ron. Nothing is going to happen."_

_At this, Ron turned around to face her. "You don't know that Hermione. I need the two of you to listen to me. If something does happen to me today, I want you guys to know I love you like my own brother and sister. I could not have made it this far in life without the two of you with me. You have given me memories I can never forget. I love both of you. If anything happens to me today, promise me that you'll continue on. You won't even hesitate. Promise me you will not rest until Voldemort is dead and gone from this world forever."_

_At this, Hermione fell into his arms crying. The idea of Ron being gone was unimaginable. With her parents gone, there were three people who made her feel complete, and Ron was one of them. No Ron meant a part of her was lost._

_Ron wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Hermione, be strong. I just wanted you guys to know how I felt just in case."_

_Hermione reluctantly left his embrace and wiped away her tars._

"_So, do you promise me that you'll keep going no matter what?"_

_Hermione nodded weakly. Harry smiled at Ron in response. He had trouble saying more. The idea of no Ron was just as impossible for him as it was for Hermione. Harry eventually added, "Make the same promise incase something happens to me."_

_Hermione said firmly, "Me too."_

_Ron nodded. "Done." To lighten the tense mood in the air, he smiled and said, "Good. Now that we have that settled, let's go kick some Death Eater butt!"_

_The three of them laughed and Apparated to the battlefield, to Ron's doom._

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_The battled last for two, long, treacherous hours. It wasn't until the end when Hermione had time to look for Harry and Ron._

_She looked around in van for them, for anyone who might now where they were. She suddenly lay her eyes on Lupin and rushing over to him, concernedly asked, "Have you seen Harry or Ron?"_

"_They were at the far side of the battle, last time I saw them", he replied, pointing to the general direction._

_Hermione immediately ran off to find them. She suddenly stopped in her tracks when she aw the outline of what looked like Harry kneeling over a body. A feeling of dread encompassed Hermione as she rushed over to Harry's side to see whose body it was._

_It was Ron's._

_Hermione's heart seemed to stop for a moment. She shook her head in denial as tears poured down her face. It couldn't be Ron. It just couldn't be._

_And yet, it was. She took his hand in hers, but felt no warmth. His hand was limp, his face pale, his eyes shut._

_Ron Weasley was dead._

_Hermione stood up, still shaking her head and whispering, "No", over and over again._

_And with that, she Apparated away, leaving Harry to cry silently over the body of his best friend._

_When Hermione arrived home, it came out in one huge choked sob. She slid to the floor and cried all day and night._

Hermione let out a small scream as she woke up panting, her face tear-stricken. It was a gloomy, rainy afternoon and she had dozed off at the kitchen table at 12 Grimmauld Place. It took her a few minutes to catch her breath and her heart rate to return to normal.

Hermione painfully thought back on each memory that had haunted her nap. Just looking back on those memories tore her apart. The deaths mentioned in her sleep weren't the only deaths; they weren't even close. But they were losses of classmates, good friends, and even one best friend. And they were enough. With each death, Hermione slowly weakened although she was initially successful in hiding it. She was able to control her grief so no one would know just how much their deaths were actually paining her.

It was Viktor Krum's death, though, that created the first hole in her barrier. His death broke her down more than any death had done before. It caused her to temporarily lose control of her grief, revealing the true pain she was feeling.

But even then, she had regained control, she had composed herself, and she had went back to being the hopeful, determined, strong, optimistic Hermione she always was. She knew her façade could only last for so long and she was unfortunately, as always, right.

Ron's death broke her down completely. When Ron had died, a part of Hermione had died. He had died a month ago and yet she was in the same pitiful, devastated condition. She didn't know what to do anymore. She had promised Viktor and Ron that she would keep hoping and keep her fiery determination, but now she wasn't sure she could take it anymore.

How much longer would she have to feed herself false hope? The reality was that they were losing the war. How was she supposed to stay optimistic at a time like when there was nothing to be optimistic about?

There were three people who meant more than anything in the world to her, and now when she needed them the most, they all seemed to be gone. Ron had died, leaving her alone to fight a losing war. Harry was so affected by Ron's death that he had lost any hope in beating Voldemort. He spent the whole day locked up in his room. As for the third person, Hermione only knew that he wasn't here. What had happened to him, she no longer knew. It had been two years since she had last saw him.

Thinking about this only made Hermione feel worse. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to just give up, to be able to say she quit. She was sick of being the one who had to stay strong and keep up the hope. Hermione was mentally and physically exhausted.

_Stay strong, Hermione. Stay strong,_ she told herself. It had almost become like a mantra for her as the times had become more and more difficult to pull through.

Hermione was so involved in these thoughts that she didn't realize Tonks had been watching her since she had awaken. Now, Tonks came up behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Hermione, who was not used to such a gesture, immediately turned around in a panic. When she saw it was Tonks, Hermione relaxed, but only for a moment as her mind quickly got lost in thought again.

Hermione once again told herself to stay strong but the feeling of exhaustion throughout her body quickly became overpowering. Her mind was cluttered, she was stressed out, there were so many mixed emotions, she hadn't been eating or sleeping properly for weeks, and now it was getting to her. Her breath started coming out in short pants. She knew what was happening. It was exactly what she had been trying to avoid for months. She was breaking down.

She suddenly began hearing voices, voices of Harry, Ron, Viktor, herself.

_Stay strong, Hermione. Stay strong._

_Promise me that you won't give up. _

_Promise me, Hermione, that you will never completely lose your hope and fire, because with it, you, Harry, and Ron can achieve anything._

_Today's battle is a big one. The biggest we've ever fought. And with big battles come big losses._

_There will be a lot to sacrifice…_

_If anything happens to me today, promise me that you'll continue on._

_Promise me you will not rest until Voldemort is dead and gone from this world forever._

_Stay strong, Hermione. Stay strong._

Her head was spinning, she was losing control, the voices seemed to be speaking all at once, what was expected of her, the stress, her promises, the war, the losses, she couldn't take it anymore, she fell to the ground on her knees, the pain was becoming unbearable, and then…

All the grief she had been hiding, the stress she felt, everything came out. She screamed, "I CAN'T!" as tears poured down her face.

Tonks, sensing what was going on, knelt by her side and brought Hermione into an embrace so she could cry on Tonk's shoulder. She had to cry it out. Hermione had been holding in the pain for too long with no support.

Hermione kept muttering, "I can't stay strong. I can't. I can't." as she continued to sob on Tonk's shoulder.

"I can't do it anymore Tonks. For the past two years, I've been staying strong no matter what the situation. When everyone lost hope, I had to be the one to stay determined and optimistic. I had to comfort everyone. And I'm sick of it. It's too much to bear, Tonks. I give up! If no one else believes in winning this war, why should I..." Hermione managed to choke out before a new wave of tears surged out.

"Hermione, don't say that. It's just a hard time for us, that's all. We'll get through this. Shhh…Hermione, it's okay. You're not in this alone." Tonks said in a soothing tone into her ear.

Hermione said nothing but she knew that she really _was _in this alone. For a long time now, she had been the only one left with hope. No one understood what she felt; no one knew that she had dealt with more pain than anyone else in the Order. And yet through all this, she had kept belief. She had kept her promise.

But today, she was through. She was sick of carrying all the weight on her shoulders.

After what seemed like endless minutes of crying, Hermione gently lifted her head off Tonk's shoulder and wiped away her tears. _Get a hold of yourself_, she scolded. She had to get back control of her emotions or else she might end up doing something rash.

With that thought in mind, Hermione picked herself up of the floor and used a quick charm to get rid of any evidence that she had been crying. If one thing hadn't changed about Hermione, it was her stubbornness and need to seem stronger than she really was.

And today, it showed. She may have been able to swish away the tears and the red, puffy eyes, but she wasn't able to magic away the sorrow in her eyes. She wasn't able to magic back the fiery determination her chocolate brown eyes once held. Hermione was only left with eyes filled with pain and the tiniest spark of hope, so tiny that you had to look closely to see it.

Tonks, who had stood up by now as well, was watching her worriedly. The spark of hope and determination in Hermione's eyes had been slowly dimming down for many months now. Tonks watched Hermione as she busily retied her hair in a clean bun.

And that was when Tonks saw what she had feared for months now. The tiny spark left in Hermione's eyes flickered, blinked a few times, and then…blew out. Hermione had finally lost her inner battle. She had been staying strong for months when no one thought it possible, and now the hope was…gone.

Tonk's heart sank. No one deserved this, especially not Hermione. Before Tonks could further dwell in her thoughts, though, Hermione's voice brought her back to reality.

"Tonks, I..I think I'm going to go for a walk…rain has stopped…get some fresh air…" As hard as Hermione tried, she wasn't able to prevent her voice from quivering. Her eyes were beginning to sparkle again as she tried to fight away the tears.

Tonks replied in a soft, defeated voice, "Sure. Go to Diagon Alley. It's probably safest because more people should be there. Be back before it starts getting dark, though."

Hermione, who was suddenly feeling worse and much weaker than before, attempted to smile at Tonks in gratitude, but failed miserably. Feeling like her legs were about to give way again at any moment, she mumbled a quiet, "Thank you", to Tonks and rushed out with her wand and cloak in hand.

Tonks watched her sadly as she left the house, hoping for some sort of miracle to bring back Hermione's hope, to bring back everyone's hope.

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After running out of the house, Hermione Apparated right outside Diagon Alley. With the threats of the war, the Ministry of Magic had forbidden any Apparation into the Alley itself.

Usually when Hermione came to Diagon Alley and needed time to think, she liked to sit in an armchair in the corner of Flourish and Blotts where no one would disturb her. Sometimes, she would pick a book off the shelf and start reading, a temporary escape from her pains and worries.

But today, even the quiet in Flourish and Blotts wasn't enough for her. She didn't bother to walk through the door because she was sure even a book couldn't help her now.

Hermione didn't know what was wrong with herself. She kept telling herself _Stay strong_, but even her mantra had stopped working. She didn't know why, but ever since she left the house, she had been feeling unusually…weak. As Hermione silently walked the streets of Diagon Alley, she was having trouble keeping her legs from buckling. Each step left her body slightly trembling. And now, she was unable to keep the tears from sitting in her eyes.

Usually when Hermione felt this weak and unstable, she became determined to regain control of herself. But for some reason, today, she actually didn't care.

Hermione kept asking herself, _Why? Why this sudden change in attitude? Why does everything seem so suddenly pointless? Why did things that usually bothered her make her feel so indifferent now? _Then suddenly, she knew. The realization hit Hermione like a slap across the face. She had lost the only thing she had had left, the only thing the war had not yet taken from her, her hope.

The truth hit Hermione so hard that she just made it to a bench before her legs gave way and she landed on the seat with a thump. Her eyes were wide in shock and disbelief.

"No, it couldn't be…not that…" she said in a mere whisper. But she knew it was that; her hope was gone.

Hermione didn't want to accept defeat; she couldn't accept defeat. She was adamantly stubborn as she frantically tried to convince herself that her fear had not become a reality.

"No, Hermione. You still have hope. Harry's going to beat Voldemort and people will stop living in fear. Yes, Hermione, positive thoughts." Saying it, though, did not mean she actually believed it. Hermione desperately tried again and again to make herself believe what she was saying, but to no avail.

"…Hope, Hermione, hope! Don't lose hope, dang it!" But by then she knew that her attempts were going to waste, and so for the second time that day, Hermione let out a soft moan and began sobbing her heart out.

She cried for the people who had died and the loss of hope and innocence. She cried out of grief and hurt, out of guilt because Hermione had broken her promise to both Viktor and Ron by losing hope.

With each thought, the tears and the rain began to spill harder. The rain quickly went from a light sprinkle to a downpour. Witches and wizards everywhere in Diagon Alley had immediately put a drying spell around themselves so they wouldn't get wet, but Hermione let the rain soak her. She wanted to drown in the rain, drown in her tears, drown away the pain.

Nearly thirty minutes later, both the tears and rain had subsided to a mere drizzle. Hermione was still sitting at the same spot, her head gently placed on her arms. She looked like a curled up ball with her knees pressed against her chest, her arms resting on the back of the bench.

Hermione was done crying now, but she didn't know what to do. The question that kept popping into her head was _Now what?_ For her, everything felt bleak and meaningless now. When there was nothing to hope for, what was life? She no longer believed in their chances of winning the war and there was no one in sight to make her feel alive again so what was she supposed to do?

Figuring it would probably be best not to worry about that for the time being, Hermione decided to go walk down the rest of Diagon Alley before returning home. She hoped it would help her clear the clutter filling her mind.

It wasn't long before Hermione realized her decision was a big mistake. Being a part of the Order as well as being naturally aware and alert made her sense that something was wrong. The sensation brought a dark, upsetting feeling to her stomach, never a good sign.

For minutes the suspense and anxiety was killing her. She had forgotten everything that she had been previously feeling; all her concentration was focused on any clue of what was giving off this horrible sensation. Hermione was constantly turning her head, her eyes gazing at every shop, every person passing her way.

Then it finally happened. Hermione heard a deathly scream two alleyways down from where she was standing. Her body immediately tensed up at the sound and her right hand subconsciously tightened its grip on her wand.

On instinct, she began running toward the alleyway. The last thing she needed to deal with right now was another attack involving even more deaths. As Hermione ran towards the scream, terrified witches and wizards were running in the opposite direction so they could exit Diagon Alley and Apparate to safety.

Hermione never really reached the alleyway because she stopped in her tracks when she saw a group of Death Eaters emerge from the very same corner she was heading towards. Usually, Hermione would have kept running until she reached there and took on the Death Eaters herself. She could manage two or three at a time.

But this time, the group wasn't just two or three like it usually is. There were six of them, and as Hermione stood rooted in her spot, a slight fear overcame Hermione as she tried to decide what to do. Her left hand made a grab for the pendant that was hanging on a beautifully simple chain around her neck. The pendant was the left side of a heart, the border of the heart being thicker than its inner portion. The border was no simple thick band, though. It had been carved into a shape of a lion standing on its legs (like the one on the Gryffindor crest) with its arms and paws stretched out to create the curve at the top of the heart. The lion's body has been curved at different points to maintain the shape of a heart, but there was no mistaking that the lion was indeed meant to create the shape of a heart's right side. The thin inner part of the heart was plain except for the carving of a simple letter "D" on it.

Overall, the pendant was absolutely beautiful, and because it was custom-made, quite expensive. Hermione hadn't taken off this necklace since she got it a little over two years ago. It had become a sort of habit to hold it in her hand and press it to her chest when she was nervous, afraid, or worried. It seemed to bring her this strange sense of comfort.

As Hermione watched them, taking a few steps backward every once in a while as to not draw attention to herself, she felt both relief and worry. She was relieved because the Death Eaters didn't seem to be on a random killing rampage so the chances of someone being murdered or severely injured were slim to none. But watching them nevertheless made Hermione feel tensed and worried because they seemed to be looking for something. Or as she soon found out, someone.

With every passing second, her suspicion was being confirmed and Hermione was beginning to have a pretty nasty feeling that she was their target. And the problem with Hermione Granger was that she was always right. Hermione was thinking of ways to slip by unnoticed when a Death Eater turned towards her direction, recognized her, and yelled in a deep, raspy voice,

"There she is!"

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**Hope you liked it! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought. Next chapter should be out in a couple of days.**

**Also, if you prefer something pretty light-hearted, check out my other story **_**Mustn't Love Granger**_**. I can't guarantee perfection but I do hope you'll like it. :D **

**Aastha**


	2. Chapter 2

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_A Love's Sacrifice: Chapter 2_

Hermione barely had time to curse at her luck before she was running for her life. Even though death had seemed ideal to her just a little while ago, survival was suddenly very crucial to Hermione. Maybe it was the fact that she would be tortured if caught, or maybe it was the idea of being used as bait, she didn't know; the only thing clear to her was that she had to find some way to escape.

As she ran, Hermione furiously brainstormed of ways to get out of Diagon Alley safe and relatively sound. She had terrific endurance but she wasn't sure she would be able to out-run the Death Eaters long enough to reach the exit of Diagon Alley and Apparate.

_Ideas, Hermione, ideas…need to escape…umm………I got it! An Invisibility Charm!_ Hermione smiled triumphantly at the idea, but it only lasted a second before her smile fell again. She hit the end of her wand on her head to scold herself.

Unluckily for her, magical advances were constantly being made to help aid with the war, and one of the spells that just so happened to have been created was one that allowed you to see through the Invisibility Charm.

Hermione let out a groan in disappointment at this realization. What was she supposed to do now? She took a quick glance backwards at the Death Eaters behind her. They were slowly getting closer. Two of them had their wands out and looked quite ready to hex her.

Hermione quickly conjured up a Shield Charm to deflect the hexes and began running in a random zig-zag formation to make it harder for them to aim at her.

Hermione looked behind her again, but it was no longer an inquisitive or worried expression. Something triggered inside of Hermione when the Death Eaters tried to hex her. It was a sensation she hadn't felt in a really long time, anger; she was only used to feeling upset, stressed, or tired.

She gave them a horrifying glare that clearly said _How dare you try to hex me! Two can play that game! No one is going to try to hex Hermione Granger and get away with it._

Her inner teenage self seemed to have come alive again. Her stubbornness and determination to outwit her enemies had sprung up. With a red face, steely, hollow eyes that gave her a ghostly appearance, and a clenched fist around her wand, Hermione skillfully aimed her wand at two Death Eaters and hexed them out of sight while running fast enough to keep out of reach from the remaining hooded people chasing her.

She once again turned her head forward, focusing on dodging anything on the street that may be in her way. After making sure there was no danger of crashing into something, Hermione turned her head back to the Death Eaters to try to finish them off.

She knew they had definitely been taken by surprise at her ability to get rid of two of them in one go, but she also knew they weren't all that stupid. They had caught on to what she was planning on doing and had begun to run in a zig-zag formation as well so that she wouldn't be able to hex them off her trail.

Although Hermione was frustrated to see this at first, the practical side of her once again took over and realized the benefit. As long as Hermione continued to run diagonally left or right like she was, it would be to difficult for them to hex her, giving her the opportunity she needed to think of alternate ideas to escape.

With her eyes focused on the street in front of her once more, Hermione stepped up her running speed a bit as her mind refocused itself on brainstorming for more ideas.

_What else is there?_ Hermione pondered to herself. _I mean, the Death Eaters must have found a way to arrive at Diagon Alley without being noticed. There are only four methods of transportation they could have used, though. Apparition couldn't have worked because it's not allowed in Diagon Alley. The only Floo network in the place is at the Leaky Cauldron and its being heavily watched. Besides, the Leaky Cauldron is outside Diagon Alley so it doesn't do me any good. Flying couldn't be it because they would have been seen, not to mention that I can't fly for my life. The only thing left is a Portkey……_

Hermione snapped out of her thoughts. That was it! They had made a Portkey to enter Diagon Alley. The stupid Ministry had forgotten to ban the use of Portkeys for transportation to the Alley.

Hermione's excitement didn't last long, though. She had read up about Portkeys in fourth year after she used one to get to the Quidditch World Cup. They used to be able to make them by simply saying _Porta_, but the spell was made more complex as Portkeys began to be abused and the Office of Magical Transportation could no longer handle all the occurrences. They were now extremely difficult to create, using eight different spells (all of which Hermione had memorized) to make sure they worked properly, so that the Office of Magical Transportation was no longer needed.

The difficulty wasn't the problem for Hermione. It was the fact that these Portkeys took fifteen minutes to make. If you didn't wait the full fifteen minutes, the Portkey would trap you in a world of nothingness. You would get lost between the dimensions.

Hermione felt disheartened. What was she supposed to do now? By the time the Portkey was made, she would either be out of danger or in the hands of the Death Eaters. There was nothing left to do.

Suddenly, something popped up in Hermione's mind. She fell into a moment of deep thought. When she emerged seconds later, her face was looking extremely grave.

There _was_ a way to escape the Death Eaters. When Hermione had been bored one summer, she had read a book called _The Miscellaneous Book of Risky Spells_. Who would have thought that the information in that book would save her life one day?

The information was clearly in her mind. There was a spell that could make a Portkey immediately after the words are spoken. All it would take is one incantation.

Hermione knew that the spell wasn't in _The Miscellaneous Book of RISKY Spells _for nothing, though. The spell was probably the riskiest and most dangerous of all of the ones mentioned in the book.

If it worked properly, Hermione would be taken to some random place and the Portkey would disable itself. Her whereabouts could not be traced for five to ten minutes, giving Hermione enough time to get back to Grimmauld Place where she was sure she would be safe.

If it didn't work properly, though, Hermione was as good as dead. She would not only be left at Diagon Alley, but the spell would also drain whatever remaining energy she had left (probably causing her to lose consciousness) and her magic would be disabled for six hours. She would definitely be at the mercy of the Death Eaters and Voldemort.

Hermione was trapped in a dilemma. She didn't know what to do. Would she risk it all in an attempt to get away from the Death Eaters? The consequences if she failed were dire.

One look back at the Death Eaters led Hermione to her decision. No way was she going to get caught by the evil wizards behind her if she had any say in it. After all, she really had nothing left to lose. The Death Eaters would probably catch her before she reached the exit of Diagon Alley anyway. This was her only hope to survival, the only hope left in her life.

Hermione took the hair tie out of her hair, letting her hair loose. It wasn't much to turn into a Portkey, but it would suffice.

Holding the hair tie in her left hand and her wand in her right, Hermione took a deep breath and then muttered, "I hope this works: _Velox Periculum Prodigium!_"

As the last word rolled off her tongue, Hermione felt her whole body lurch and her feet suddenly left the ground. She began spinning in circles and the environment became a blur of colors. Hermione strained to get a close look at the Death Eaters, but all she managed to see was a fuzzy outline of where they were standing.

Hermione knew they probably hated her right now, but she didn't think much about that right now. Sue was too busy worrying; she didn't feel triumphant yet. Hermione didn't know how this spell worked. After all, she had never needed to use it until now. For all she knew, the spell could throw her down to the ground at any second.

But Hermione had no time to get lost in her worry because her whole body was suddenly shot up in the air, as if out of a cannon, before she plummeted downward at an incredibly fast speed.

She shut her eyes and had just enough time to put her head in her arms for protection before she hit the ground with a hard thud on her left side. For a moment, Hermione didn't move a muscle, didn't even open her eyes. She wasn't sure if the spell had worked or not.

Realization and curiosity hit Hermione seconds later, though. Even though she had had a strong impact with the ground, she felt no pain. If she was still at Diagon Alley, the cobblestone would have definitely hurt. Now that she thought about it, the side that had hit the ground was feeling unusually wet and cold.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes and sat up. The sight that graced her eyes left her in awe.

The spell had definitely worked. Hermione had landed in the snowy mountains. She figured it was the mountains in northern Britain but she wasn't sure. The snowy surroundings looked so peaceful and beautiful. Hermione wished she could just sit there all day and take in the beauty.

But Hermione knew that there was no time for that so she began to observe her surroundings. She had apparently landed on the top of a small hill. As she looked straight down from where she was sitting, the land was empty but for the snow. On either side of this pathway were a bunch of bare trees with snow sitting on some of their branches.

Hermione stood up and tried walking down the hill but soon found herself swaying back and forth and stumbling as if she were drunk. The constant spinning sensation she felt from the Portkey had left her dizzy and with a small headache.

Hermione continued her way down the small hill, trying to shake off the dizziness as she went. She managed to get off the slope of the hill and walk a few feet before she felt the need to stop. She grabbed for a tree for support.

With everything that had happened, she had forgotten that she was still tired from all that running at Diagon Alley, not to mention the energy she had used up to successfully cast the Quick Portkey spell.

Hermione put her wand back in her pocket and put her right hand on the trunk of tree to steady herself as she tried to stop panting and catch her breath.

Hermione was so occupied in looking down at the ground and taking deep breaths that she didn't even hear the sound of someone approaching.

It was when the person spoke that she realized their presence.

"Hermione….Granger?!?"

At the sound of the voice, Hermione's whole body tensed, her breathing momentarily stopped, and her heart rate sped up.

She didn't look up. She couldn't. Hermione knew that voice from anywhere. It was a voice she hadn't heard for two years.

Hermione looked wearily upward to find the one person she dreaded seeing again standing six feet before her.

Draco Malfoy.

Pain flashed in Hermione's eyes. Memories flooded her mind, taking over any controlled thought processes in her mind. Hermione began to feel extremely weak. Her breath was coming out in short pants again. Even the tree wasn't able to support her.

Any energy that Hermione had had quickly drained and she found it impossible to keep herself standing any longer.

Draco, who had been watching her expression closely, sensed this and managed to catch her in his arms before she fell to the ground.

Hermione felt immediate warmth as Draco held her in his arms, so much warmth, in fact, that she closed her eyes and lay there peacefully. It had been so long since she had felt this kind of comfort, this kind of safety. It felt good to be in Draco's arms.

In Draco's arms….

Hermione's eyes suddenly snapped open to see Draco looking down at her worriedly. Taking all the energy she had left, Hermione immediately stood up, using the tree for support and leaving Draco's arms. Draco made no movement to stop her; instead, he tried to help her stand up. She only pushed his hands away, though. Draco said nothing, but for a second he almost looked…sad.

After Hermione was once again standing, she looked at Draco piercingly. _I am not going to become weak in the knees just by seeing him again. I am not going to be vulnerable._ Hermione felt a need to prove herself to Draco, to herself. She needed him to know that his sudden re-appearance was neither wanted nor needed.

Anger and hurt were the factors that were causing Hermione to think these false, irrational thoughts. Nevertheless, they were helpful in that they were supplying her with the energy she desperately needed right now.

Draco dusted off the snow on his cloak and looked at Hermione to see her lost in thought. It was amazing what two years could do to a person. Hermione seemed so….dead. He'd heard about Viktor and Ron's deaths, but he hadn't realized their deaths were having such a huge impact on Hermione.

And that was when Draco decided what he would do. There was no way he was going to leave Hermione alone to fend for herself, no matter what she said to him. She needed help and Draco was determined to give it to her.

Draco was about to address her when Hermione cut him off, "Malfoy, why are you here? I mean, what are the chances that I use the Quick Portkey Spell to get away from the Death Eaters chasing me and I end up here in the middle of the mountains with no one for company but the person I neither need nor want in my life?" Hermione huffed angrily.

Draco was about to give an immediate retort, but then closed his mouth as he processed what Hermione had just said. He opened his mouth once again to speak in his defense, but seemed at a loss of words, disbelief and puzzlement written across his face.

"Wait, Hermione…" Draco began before Hermione cut him off.

"It's Granger to you, Malfoy," she added rudely.

Draco merely smirked. If she wanted to act like a stubborn brat like they had when they were in school, he would too.

"Like I was saying, _Hermione_, you honestly think _I_ planned the whole thing?" his voice was filled with incredulity. "You actually believe that I am working with the Death Eaters and sent them to chase you just so you'd use the Quick Portkey Spell of all spells to get sent to this exact place instead of any other location on the surface of this Earth, and all so I could see you again after two years?" Draco made sure to make the idea sound even more ridiculous than it really was. "Well, here's a newsflash for you Hermione. I didn't plan on ending up here, much less seeing you again," he ended with a tone as piercing as Hermione's had been with him.

He didn't mention the fact that he was glad things turned out the way they did and that he really was happy to see Hermione after such a long time. That would have ruined it.

Draco Malfoy wasn't angry at Hermione for insinuating that he had been working with the Death Eaters, something that could easily be taken offensively. In fact, he was quite amused by the way she was acting. He knew she wasn't thinking properly; his re-appearance had apparently been a big shock for her, so big that she was letting her emotions rule over her actions. Draco figured that for the time being, it would probably be best to play along and see where this goes.

Hermione, on the other hand, had quickly come to realize how ridiculous her accusation was and seemed to be at a loss for words. The only reply she managed to give was,

"I told you not to call me Hermione, Malfoy. I said it's Granger to you."

Draco smirked. "Hermione Malfoy. It's got a nice right to it, don't you think?" He paused for a moment to see how she would react. Hermione glared at him murderously and turned red in the face. If Draco hadn't known any better, he could've sworn she had been blushing.

"As for the Granger issue, I'll call you Granger instead of Hermione if you stop being so cold towards me and call me Draco, deal?" Her expression gave him his answer. "I thought not. You see, you can't always get what you want, Hermione. Life doesn't work that way."

Hermione scowled, her arms now folded across her chest in defiance. "You haven't changed a bit, Malfoy."

The hard, stern look on Draco's face softened and he gave her a soft smile. "Of course I haven't. That's why you love me so much," he said matter-of-factly. It was hard to tell if he was being serious or was just kidding.

Hermione pretended not to be phased by what he had said, but Draco was sure that he had seen a small blush creep up on her face this time.

"Always the smooth talker."

"Always the one to ruin the moment."

Hermione sent him yet another scowl, which was returned with a classic smirk, before she remembered that there were more important things to deal with than Malfoy at the moment.

"Why are you here then?" she asked quietly, avoiding making any eye contact with him.

"The same reason you're here. The Death Eaters have been after me for two years now. They caught me by surprise and the only way to save myself was to use the Quick Portkey Spell. Next thing I knew, I ended up here and found you." Draco paused to give Hermione a chance to speak, but when she remained silent, he continued,

"I'm worried though. If Voldemort sent Death Eaters after you, it means the war is coming to an end. He's trying to strike a direct blow at Harry to get him to act. But if you get to safety, I doubt he'll come after you again. I've been spying on them for the past month and they really want to end this war. If they fail to capture you, Voldemort will just rush into the Final Battle because he's sick of waiting. So it's really important that I get you to safety…"

Hermione's head shot up at the last sentence. "What do you mean it's important for _you_ to get me to safety? You think I'm going with you? Are you insane? Why in the world would I do something like that after what you did to me?" Hermione was nearly shouting at the end, her temper rising once more.

Draco looked exasperated. Hermione just didn't seem to get it. "Hermione, don't bring the past into this. That's not important right now. Right now, I'm talking about the present. The Death Eaters will probably find you if you go back to Grimmauld Place. They're catching onto the whereabouts of the Order's headquarters as it is. If you go there, they'll definitely find it. At least for the time being, you'll be safest if you come with me.

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why in the world would I come with you? I do have to bring the past in this, Malfoy. Do you really think I'll suddenly forget everything that has happened, become your friend, and go with you to where you've been hiding? If that's what you're thinking, Malfoy, you're clearly mistaken."

"Dang it, Hermione, don't you see? I'm not telling you to forget the past and become my good friend all of a sudden. That's ridiculously unreasonable. What I am doing, though, is asking you to _trust_ me. Can you do that, Hermione? Can you trust me just this once? Think logically, Hermione. Both you and I are being hunted down by Death Eaters with little energy to spare. Whether you want to admit or not, the truth is that you're in an unstable condition. We're both weak because the Quick Portkey Spell took a lot of energy to do properly. Our magical abilities are limited right now. We _need_ each other if we want to get out of this safely!"

It almost sounded like Draco was pleading Hermione to understand. And luckily, she did. She knew there was truth in every word Draco had spoken, whether she liked it or not. This wasn't a time to fight with Draco and act stubbornly. The truth was that both of their lives were at stake and that thy needed to work with one another, rather than against, to pull through.

Hermione looked up and made true eye contact with Draco for the first time in two years. "Where are we going?" she asked, sighing.

Draco smiled at hearing this. "We need to Apparate together so it'll take less energy. We should probably go to some public place first and then Apparate to my home from there so we can throw them off."

Hermione agreed. "The street where St. Mungo's is constantly has people Apparating. That should be a good throw-off."

Draco agreed. "Are you ready?" he asked, offering her his hand.

Hermione reluctantly took it and said, "Okay."

"On the count of three then, we'll Apparate. One…two…three!"

There was a large "Pop!" as Hermione and Draco disappeared, reappearing seconds later at the outside entrance of St. Mungo's.

Draco looked at Hermione and was glad to see the she was okay, a bit shaken but okay.

"This time when we Apparate, just focus on our hands. That way, I can use your energy to help me get us to my home."

Hermione simply nodded. With another count to three, Hermione and Draco popped out of the street and arrived inside a small underground home located in the outskirts of London.

Draco looked at Hermione again, expecting to see her looking weak but standing. But it seemed that the second Apparition was too much for her poor, exhausted body.

Hermione tried to blink her surroundings into focus, but failed. The last thing she saw was the worry etched on Draco's face before her body and mind succumbed to darkness.

For the second time that day, Draco caught Hermione before she fell to the ground, only this time she was unconscious and made no movement to leave his arms. With one of his arms supporting her upper back, he put the other under her knees and carried her to the sofa in the living room. He was sure she wouldn't appreciate waking up and finding herself in his bed.

After placing her gently on the couch, he noticed that she had been shivering before and goosebumps covered her arms. After using a simple drying spell on her clothes, he fetched a blanket, wrapping her in it, and lit the fire in the hearth for additional warmth.

Knowing it would probably be best to let Hermione regain some more energy before waking her, he went off to change from his robes into comfortable black slacks and a light blue button up shirt.

After that was done, Draco went into his storage cabinet and took out a watery-looking potion. Pulling up a chair by Hermione, he slowly parted her lips and tipped the potion into her mouth. The potion would give Hermione additional energy so her body could respond more easily, rather than it still being as if she were out cold.

Draco had meant to go to the kitchen directly after giving her the potion but something overcame him and before he knew it, he was still sitting on the chair, watching Hermione's serene face as she slept cozily on the couch.

Hermione seemed to be having a nice dream, probably the first in a long time, because her lips parted into a small smile. It was contagious because Draco soon found himself smiling as well.

Suddenly, one of the curls of her hair slid onto her face, and the smile slowly disappeared as her nose twitched, trying to get rid of whatever it was that was bothering her.

Draco carefully took the curl and placed it gently behind her ear again. A smile returned to Hermione's face.

But Draco was no longer smiling. It was amazing how one curl, one touch of her skin, could bring back memories he had tried but failed to forget.

_It was a gloomy Saturday morning as Draco got out of his bed. Slipping on a bathrobe, he headed down to the Common Room, expecting to find Hermione sitting there with a book and drinking hot chocolate._

_But to Draco's surprise, the Common Room was empty. Figuring Hermione was still asleep, he quietly made his way up to her bedroom. He opened the door to find her in her bed, tucked comfortably inside her covers, with only her head peeking out._

_Draco kneeled by the edge of the bed and watched her sleep, silently laughing as her nose twitched when a curl fell onto her face._

_When he had had his fun, he carefully reached for the curl and tucked it behind her ear, but not before his hand just barely grazed her cheek. She shuddered, but a small smile momentarily appeared on her face._

_At seeing this, Draco felt the urge to do it again, just to see the smile reappear. The temptation was too much for him, and before he knew it, he was gently stroking Hermione's cheek as she slept. This time, a smile rose to her face and stayed there._

There were so many memories like these that filled Draco's mind, small things that had happened between him and Hermione that he just seemed unable to forget.

If only things didn't work out the way they did. Maybe then Hermione wouldn't be dreading see Draco again; maybe then things could go back to how they used to be, how they were in his memories.

Knowing it wasn't worth pondering it any longer, Draco got up and went off to drink an Energy Potion and make some food for himself and Hermione for when she woke up.

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It was nearly two hours later before Hermione stirred and finally woke up. Even then, she couldn't exactly remember what had happened or where she was. She sat up on the couch and looked around at the surroundings. It was a nice, small home that had been wonderfully decorated. Hundreds of books sat on bookshelves on the opposing wall. The mantel of the fireplace was made out of silver and gold marble.

Hermione's eyes then traveled to the furniture in the room, and that was when she was the figure of Draco Malfoy snoozing in an armchair. Everything came back to her in a sudden rush. She was at Draco's home.

Hermione had her mind only one thing at the moment and that was to get away from Draco's house as soon as possible. Knowing that this was the best time to slip out unnoticed, Hermione quickly shuffled out of the blankets and off the couch. On the coffee table, she found two plates of delicious-looking but untouched food along with her wand and cloak.

Quickly wrapping herself in the cloak and tucking the wand safely away, Hermione gave one last glance at Draco's sleeping figure before turning around and heading to the emptier side of the room so she could Apparate more easily.

Hermione just made it past the coffee table, though, before she heard Draco stir and jump out of his chair in alarm.

"Hermione, where are you going?"

She turned back around to face him. "Back to Grimmauld Place because unlike someone I know, those people will be worrying about me and my safety. They'll owl me to try and find out where I am." Hermione said resentfully.

Draco's face suddenly looked very pained and tired; his voice came out weak and pleading. "Hermione, let me…"

"Explain? I don't need you to explain anything to me, Malfoy, because I no longer have anything to do with you."

Draco's voice suddenly became strong, even accusing. "So that's it? You're just going to try and forget everything that happened between us? Just forget that I even exist? It's not going to happen, Hermione. You know it and I know it. For the past two years, you've been trying to forget about me and anything relating to me." His voice softened once more, "And the truth is, you've failed. You can't seem to forget me no matter how hard you try."

Hermione's eyes began to tear up again. She hated Draco for so many reasons, but Hermione didn't think she had hated him more than she did know. And why? Because he was right. She hated that every single word he had just spoken was true.

"Maybe I can't forget you and everything that reminds me of you. But I can make myself believe that whatever happened between us was nothing serious. We didn't actually have feelings for each other. We were just two people overwhelmed with everything going around us and ended up finding comfort in the least likely place: in each other. After Hogwarts closed down and Order training was finished, you and I didn't need each other anymore. Both of us went our separate ways. And now, two years later, I am meeting you again and I still don't need you, Malfoy. I neither need you in my life nor want you in it," Hermione ended strongly, although it was the opposite of how she was feeling.

Draco looked stunned. Everything she had said had hit him hard. He asked quietly, looking down at the floor, "Do you really mean that? Do you really think that our relationship was nothing but a source of comfort?" Draco looked up at the end to receive her answer.

Hermione hesitated for a second before firmly replying,

"Yes."

Draco noted her reluctance to reply and the way her eyes seemed to contradict what was coming out of her mouth, but said nothing. Instead, he looked away.

They stood there for a moment in silence before Hermione turned away, back facing Draco, and continued to make her way to the other side of the room to leave.

She was taking one last step before Apparating when Draco spoke once more,

"Then why do you still have that pendant around your neck?"

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**Hey you guys. I know I said I'd post every few days, but I realized that the first chapter didn't have much so I figured that it wouldn't hurt to post the second chapter. I probably won't get the third chapter up until the end of this week, though, so I hope I left enough of a cliffie to leave you guys interested in reading more.**

**I know the story's not much, but I do hope you guys are enjoying it thus far. Please take the time to review! I'd really like some feedback, especially since I can still make changes to the ending. Or simply review just to let me know there are people actually reading the story. It makes me sad to see a big fat 0 where it says reviews. :(**

**Thanks again! Review:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the third chapter. Enjoy!**

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_Chapter 3: A Love's Sacrifice_

Hermione's breath caught in her throat at his words. She spun around to face him once more, her hand instinctively shielded the pendant from his eyes. She didn't dare to look down at it. Draco's intense gaze had her eyes glued with his and she couldn't summon the courage to turn away. Her face was covered with an array of emotions: panic, pain, even a bit of horror.

Hermione didn't know what to do. She was stuck in the worst possible situation. What was she supposed to say now? A part of her, the logical part, wanted to get out easy and Apparate away before Draco could say or do anything. To put it simply, it wanted her to run away from the problem. But the other part of her, her heart and its irritating feelings, wouldn't let her move. She found herself rooted to her spot, unable to speak. She was only able to feel, feel the thumping dread in her heart, feel the curiosity…

Yes, the curiosity. If there was one thing that Hermione hated more than anything right now, it was her curiosity, her desire to know. Because at this moment, more than ever before, Hermione wanted to know if Draco felt the same way she did.

And the thing is, she knew exactly how to find out. It was actually very simple. But those conflicting emotions of hers kept asking her: did she _want_ to find out? What if the truth slapped her in the face and left her feeling worse than ever before? After all, the truth had a wonderful reputation of hurting.

That's when Hermione knew what to do. Her curiosity had won the notorious inner battle. So what if the truth brought her more pain? She'd learn to get through it somehow. After all, with the condition Hermione was currently in, she doubted that whatever Draco threw her way could possible make things worse for her than they already were.

With this thought bringing some confidence to her mind, Hermione still very reluctantly unlatched her gaze from Draco's and slowly let her eyes travel downwards until they reached his neck.

And sure enough, around his neck was a silver chain, on which sat a silver pendant. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone so Hermione could see the pendant in all its fame and glory, even though her gut feeling could have told her exactly what was sitting on that chain in the first place.

The pendant was the left side of a heart, exactly like Hermione's in design but for the border, which was carved not in the shape of a lion, but in the shape of a snake (its head forming the top curve of the heart), and the inner portion was engraved with a "H" instead of an "D".

At seeing the pendant on his neck, Hermione looked at Draco's face again in hopes of getting a clue as to what he was thinking or feeling. But his gaze was as intense as ever and his face equally expressionless. A sense of power and authority emanated from him as he continued to watch every action of Hermione's like a hawk. He was observing her so closely that it felt like he was reading her every thought and feeling.

But if Draco could read Hermione's feelings, it wouldn't do him any good; it would only leave him terribly confused. Because that was how Hermione was feeling at the moment. Conflicted and confused. Seeing that pendant around Draco's neck was filling her mind with more thoughts and her heart with more feelings than she could handle. The small pendant symbolized and meant a lot, _too much_ in fact. Hermione didn't know how to react.

Her heart both soared and sank. To see that Draco was still wearing the pendant made a small part of Hermione, a part that she had been unflaggingly trying to cover up, extremely happy and light-hearted. Another part of her looked at the pendant and only remembered the pain, misery, and loss that soon entailed its bestowment.

It wasn't working for Hermione. The poor girl could only take in so much in one day. Too many thoughts, too many feelings, too many problems, too many everything. She felt like a lost, little girl who had no one to show her the path, to show her what the right thing to do was. Hermione suddenly felt very much alone.

Her face suddenly blanched of all emotion. The conflicting thoughts and feelings were no longer visible; her expression had become bland. She dropped to the floor on her knees, her head facing downwards, her shoulders hunched over in defeat.

That was how Hermione truly felt. Defeated. Robbed of ever logical and emotional thought. She couldn't think straight. Nothing made sense anymore. All she seemed able to do was sit in a heap on the ground as if lifeless. Even the tears seemed to standstill. They simply sat in her eyes.

Draco watched all of this silently, not moving even a muscle. He knew it was best for Hermione to let out the immense amount of pressure she had been feeling for so long.

It was when she fell to the ground and failed to make a single sound or movement that Draco reacted. His emotionless face quickly filled with worry as he rushed over to her side.

Draco knelt down by her side and gently placed a finger under her chin, lifting her head up so their eyes could meet.

Hermione looked at him longingly as she helplessly sat there. Their eyes connected and they stayed there, looking at each other, searching for answers. Seconds or perhaps minutes later, there was a sudden jolt and both of them felt like they were being sucked into a sort of pensieve formed by their minds, spinning back into time, reliving the memories they deeply loved but had tried so hard to leave behind.

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_Hermione entered the portrait hole to the Heads Common Room, heavily lost in thought about the essay she just finished in the library. She was muttering, "Fascinating" to herself when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, puzzled._

_Something was missing. She felt it. Then it hit her. Why was it so quiet today? Malfoy usually addressed her when she walked through the door, teasing her for always thinking about school or obsessing over some book. It had become like a daily tradition for him and Hermione had grown to enjoy it. They were no longer rude to each other; they were more like friends who loved to irritate one another and argue over nothing for fun.-_

_The only time things became tense and dangerous between them was when the upcoming war was ever brought up. Draco was still working to become a Death Eater, and although he was doing it unwillingly, Hermione's previous hatred for him would immediately return when the topic was discussed._

_Hermione turned her head towards the couch to see that Malfoy was indeed sitting there, but he seemed lost as his eyes stared blankly at the fire. Hermione took a few steps closer to him when he made no indication of sensing her presence. Hermione could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the sight before her: two tears were running down Draco Malfoy's cheeks._

_Hermione made her way over to the couch and sat down beside him. Draco didn't move at all. He looked like a lost, confused, heart-broken boy._

"_Malfoy, what happened?"_

_Hermione looked at him expectantly, but he had still not moved, his eyes still looking straight at the fire._

_Hermione knew there had to be something wrong. She had never seen Draco in this kind of state before._

_In a more pleading tone, Hermione tried again, "Malfoy, what's wrong?"_

_Still no answer._

_Hermione became overwhelmed with worry. Draco never looked like anything but calm, cool, and collected. Seeing him so distraught could only mean something terrible must have happened. She turned his shoulders and heard to face her, and in a frightened voice asked once again, _

"_Draco, what's wrong?"_

_Hearing her call him by his first name for the first time did the trick because Draco's eyes came out of their dazed state. He looked at Hermione straight in the eye, and in a quiet, quivering voice, he said,_

"_My mother's dead."_

_Hermione's eyes filled with tears but she made no move to comfort him. He had to let it all out first._

"_My mother's dead, Hermione! Dead! He murdered her! V...V…Voldemort killed her…" and with the name of Voldemort finally uttered from his very own mouth, the few tears Draco was capable of shedding fell onto his cheeks._

_Hermione put her hands to her mouth in shock before taking Draco into an embrace. It took Draco a minute to compose himself and stop the few tears he shed for his mother, but his head continued to rest on Hermione's shoulder, his arms around her waist, long after that. They sat there in complete, wonderful silence._

_Finally, reluctantly, Draco pulled back and looked Hermione in the eyes again. For some reason, she understood him. Her small act of kindness had been the most comfort Draco had ever received in his life._

"_Hermione."_

_Hermione looked at Draco expectantly._

"_Do…do you know if the Order can...can help me stay safe from Voldemort if I were to switch sides?"_

_Hermione's eyes sparkled with joy at hearing this. "Of course, Draco. The Order is willing to help anyone who wants to leave the Dark Lord." Hermione paused for a moment, feeling unusually happy. "This is wonderful Draco. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. We'll go talk to Professor McGonagall first thing in the morning."_

_Draco smiled weakly at her enthusiasm. "My mother was the only one who cared about what I wanted…the only one to care about my happiness even though she never really showed affection towards me…I'm not staying loyal to the man who murdered her, even if it means death for me in the end."_

_Hermione gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm proud of you, Draco. You're doing something so many before you wanted to but could not do because they lacked courage. They not only feared Voldemort but his very name. You overcame that fear and fear itself today. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, we have nothing to fear but…"_

_Draco, who had turned to the fire as she was speaking, faced her once more. Leaning closer to her face, holding her eyes with his own, he finished,_

"…_fear itself. I know. Thank you, Hermione."_

_And before Hermione knew what was happening, Draco closed the gap between them with his lips._

_It was a gentle, lingering kiss, one that lasted only for a few seconds because Draco pulled back before Hermione could register exactly what was happening._

"_Thank you for setting me on the right path, for giving me something to hope for, for giving me the one thing that's always been missing in my life."_

_Hermione, who was still a little flustered by what had just happened, said, "And what is that exactly?"_

"_Friendship, the feeling that someone outside of your family cares about you, understands you, and appreciates you for who you are."_

_Hermione turned a little pink at this and smiled. "That's what I'm here for: to help you stand on your feet again when you've fallen down."_

_Draco didn't respond. Instead, he kissed her again and Hermione kissed back. That was response enough._

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_The memory faded as a new one replaced it…_

"_Draco! Where were you? I've been waiting for you for the past hour!" Hermione exclaimed angrily as she flipped another page of her Ancient Runes textbook before focusing on the Potions book right next to it._

_It was the fourth week in November and finals were in three weeks because Hogwarts wasn't reopening after the holidays. Hermione was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, five different books opened in front of her as she tried to multi-task and study them all at the same time._

_Draco, who had just walked through the portrait hole, shook his head amusedly before setting his bag down and taking out his History of Magic textbook._

"_Sorry, Hermione. I was busy doing something called eating. You should try it, considering you skipped dinner today."_

_Hermione finally stopped reading and looked up at Draco, a puzzled look on her face. She looked down at her watch and realization struck her._

_She gasped, "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot about dinner! Harry and Ron are going to be really worried!"_

_Draco tried to look upset. "What about me? Aren't I important too? What about the fact that I was worried?"_

_Hermione scoffed slightly. "You weren't worried. You probably expected me to miss dinner. As for Harry and Ron…"_

_Draco laughed and sat down next to her. "Don't worry, they knew you wouldn't come and eat. I heard them considering betting on when your brain would finally explode from studying."_

_Hermione looked at him and scowled, "That's not very funny!"_

_This caused Draco to chuckle even more, though. "I'm sorry to tell you that it is."_

_Before she could make any more protest, Draco softly kissed her._

"_Now, I don't want anymore complaining, got that? You've just wasted five precious minutes of studying on me!" Draco smirked before adding, "Not to mention eating." With those words, a plate of Hermione's favorite food popped up on the table._

_Hermione looked at it wide-eyed before giving Draco a quick hug. "Aww, Draco, you shouldn't have."_

"_Yah, well I did. Made amends with Dobby and asked him to do me a favor. Now eat up. You have now wasted seven precious minutes on me."_

_Hermione glared at him for a moment before putting on a sweet smile and saying, "You're worth it." She quickly pecked him on the cheek and then made her way to the sofa to begin eating and studying, leaving Draco still quite shocked and speechless at her words and actions._

_----------- Two hours later (Ten at night):_

_Hermione had given up on reading all five books at a time and had curled up into a ball on the sofa, reading her Arithmancy notes. Draco had moved to the edge of the couch, his book resting on the arm rest at the end. Neither of them spoke, both engrossed in studying._

_---------- Another two hours later (Midnight):_

_Draco was so busy studying that he hadn't realized Hermione had fallen asleep, dropping some of her papers onto the floor. Her head was resting gently on his shoulder. He looked up from his book and smiled._

_She looked so peaceful when sleeping that he didn't have the heart to wake her up. So, he closed his book, used his wand with his free hand to turn off the lights, and they both slept on the couch that night with Draco's head resting on top of Hermione's._

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_It was one of the last few days of school left before the holidays and Hermione was busily tidying up her room and packing. She had just finished putting all her things away and making the bed when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist._

_Hermione squealed and turned to face Draco._

"_Draco! Stop it! I need to finish cleaning," she scolded, good-naturedly._

"_Why not let the house elves do it? And plus, how much cleaner can this room get?" Draco drawled, just to irritate Hermione._

_He was rewarded with a nice, hard punch on his arm before Hermione pushed him away from her._

"_HOW DARE YOU, DRACO MALFOY! House elves should not be left to clean every single spot of this castle! You may not care, but I do. If cleaning my room spares them a little work, it's most definitely worth it." She retorted, scowling._

_Draco laughed before putting one of his arms around her waist, the other one moving around on the bed as if looking for something._

"_You know I was kidding with you, Hermione. I love that I can irritate you so easily." He whispered in her ear._

"_Kidding or not, I'm not amused so don't go and try sweet talking me to make up for it." She said stubbornly, pushing him away once more._

_Draco feigned disappointment. "Why do you always ruin the moment, Hermione? I mean, could you at least PRETEND that you fall for the charms that every other girl falls for."_

_Hermione smiled. "I'm not any other girl, now am I?"_

_Draco pulled her in once again. "No, you're not. That must be why I've fallen for you."_

_He then leaned in to kiss her, but Hermione put her hands on his chest to stop him._

"_I didn't say I've forgiven you, Malfoy."_

_Draco seemed frustrated. "Hermione! You did it again! And if it makes you happy, I've cleaned my room completely just so the house elves won't have to."_

_Hermione looked at him wide-eyed. "Really? You mean it?"_

"_You can go see it right now. I knew you were cleaning your room because you didn't want the house elves having to clean it and I didn't have anything better to do while waiting for you to finish so I decided to do my one act of kindness for the year by sparing them the trouble and cleaning it myself."_

_Hermione smiled radiantly. She said, "Oh Draco!" before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips._

_She let go, though, when she noticed that Draco hadn't hugged her or kissed her back._

"_Draco, what's wrong?"_

_Draco turned away from her, folding his arms across his chest as if mad at her._

"_Draco?"_

_He looked at her. "You didn't apologize."_

_Draco looked at him funnily. "Apologize? For what?"_

"_For getting mad at me when you had no reason to," he said childishly._

_Hermione laughed. "You seriously want me to apologize for that?"_

_Draco looked at her seriously. "It's either that, or this…"_

_With that, Draco gently pushed her onto the bed and leaned over her, his face inches from hers._

_Hermione was expecting something to happen as she lay under Draco, but the real turn of events took her completely by surprise._

_Draco had grabbed two pillows, throwing one right next to her hand and gently hitting her in the face with the other._

"_Pillow Fight!"_

_Hermione immediately grabbed the other pillow and before they knew it, the two of them were standing a foot apart, hitting one another with the pillows. Feathers kept exploding out of their fluffy weapons, cluttering the floor and air with white softness._

_They were both laughing as feathers flew into their faces or as they knocked each other so hard that they either stumbled or fell to the ground altogether._

_After five minutes of nonsensical pillow throwing, Hermione and Draco were standing in little puddles of feathers, out of breath from throwing the pillows and laughing so hard._

"_You give up yet, Hermione?" Draco said in short pants, his hands on his knees as he tried to calm himself down and catch his breath._

"_Not yet." Hermione replied before taking out her wand and aiming a spell at her pillow. The pillow suddenly became ten times the size. With one hard throw, the pillow hit Draco in the chest, throwing him to the ground before it exploded. The floor was now covered with at least ten inches of feathers_

_Hermione laughed. "Do you give up yet, Draco?"_

_Draco pretended to glare at her before pushing off the pile of feathers that had landed on him. He sat up, feathers still stuck to his hair and clothes._

_Draco just smirked. He said, "We'll see about that", before grabbing her arm and pushing her down on to the soft feathery ground next to him. He held her wrists firmly as they rolled around in the feathers for over a half and hour, laughing, enjoying the wonderful time they were able to spend together without anyone bothering them._

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_The memory changed to a chilly day in February. People were bustling in and out of Grimmauld Place as training of Hogwarts students joining the Order was taking place._

_Hermione pushed her way through the crowd right outside the magically created classroom and made her way upstairs to her room to get her notebook and quill. The classes weren't mandatory for her, Ron, or Harry because they had been a part of the Order for two years, but she felt obligated to go anyway,_

_Hermione was heading toward her room when she suddenly felt a hand grab her wrist and drag her into a room. Hermione almost screamed, but a soft hand covered her mouth._

"_Shhh, it's only me, Hermione."_

_Hermione looked up at Draco's face and sighed in relief._

"_You scared me! Don't do that again!"_

"_I'm sorry, Hermione, but I figured this would probably be my only chance to get some time alone with you. Ever since Hogwarts closed down, we've barely been able to spend time together, even if both of us are staying here at Headquarters. Your friends never seem to leave your side."_

_Hermione smiled, blushing slightly. "So you've missed me?"_

_Draco smirked. "Of course I have. That's why I brought you in here. I need to give you something important."_

_Hermione looked at him puzzled. "What's that?"_

_He took out a small box from his pocket and handed it to her. "You think I could forget?"_

_Hermione took it from his hand and opened it slowly. Inside were two pendants that together formed the shape of a heart. One side of the heart was carved in the shape of a lion, the other in the shape of a snake. Engraved in the center was "HD"._

_Hermione looked up at Draco, a look of awe on her face, tears in her eyes so that they sparkled._

"_Draco, it's…beautiful."_

_He smiled at her reaction, glad she liked it enough to be at a loss of words._

"_Now, no matter what, we'll always be together," he said, before gently taking apart the two pieces and placing the right side of the heart with the "D" around Hermione's neck. Hermione then did the same for Draco, placing the right side of the heart around his neck._

"_Thank you, Draco," she said, looking up at him, her hands placed on his chest._

"_Happy Valentine's Day, Hermione. I love you." Draco said, looking down at her fondly._

_And then, they shared a passionate kiss._

_Hermione smiled as they separated. "I love you too, Draco. I love you too."_

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_The wonderful, romantic atmosphere suddenly disappeared as the memory changed one final time into the hallway downstairs at Grimmauld Place._

_The house was empty but for the two people who were shouting at one another._

"_This is ridiculous, Draco! Absolutely ridiculous!"_

"_Hermione, it's not like I have a choice. They're after my neck!"_

"_You do have a choice! Why in the world do you NEED to go into hiding? You're perfectly safe right here." Hermione said, glaring at him._

"_Hermione, I am NOT safe here and you know it. Stop being so stubborn! You make it sound like I want to leave this place, leave you." Draco said, clearly irritated at how this conversation had turned out._

"_For all I know, that could be the reason. You forced us to keep our relationship a secret from everyone, even after it's been six months. My friends have a right to know by now."_

_Draco looked at her worriedly. She was clearly not taking the news well. The thought of being separated further from her than he already was had been hard to bear, but she was making it excruciatingly impossible._

"_Hermione! I LOVE YOU! I don't want to leave you. I need you to understand that I have no choice in the matter. I don't want to go into hiding. I'll probably spend days running from one place to another so they don't catch onto my trail. It's not the kind of life I want to live, but it's the price I have to pay for betraying Lord Voldemort."_

_Hermione tried to conceal a sniffle, but Draco heard it and immediately made his way towards her and took her in his arms._

"_Hermione, I need you to be strong. This isn't easy for you or for me, but it's the sacrifice we have to make if we want to be together when this is all done and over," he said quietly, stroking her hair as tears streamed down her cheeks._

_Hermione wiped them away quickly and stepped back so she could look Draco in the eye. "Take me with you."_

_Draco looked bewildered. "What???"_

"_If you have to go into hiding, then take me with you. I'll suffer with you," she said determinedly._

"_Hermione, you can't be serious!"_

"_Why not? Take me with you, Draco!"_

"_Hermione, I can't! Don't you see? You're needed here. I've been watching you, Harry, and Ron for months now. They DEPEND on you. You can't just disappear even if you want to. You need to be here to keep them motivated and help them out."_

"_I don't care, Draco! They can go on without me. They'll understand."_

"_Hermione, that's just it. They WON'T understand. If you were to leave them a note explaining everything, they won't understand how so much had happened right in front of them but they couldn't see it. Hermione, you're the binding link. They need you more than… I need you." He ended softly, trying to make her understand that this was the right thing to do even if it wasn't what either of them wanted._

"_I feel like you're asking me to erase you out of my life, Draco."_

_Draco looked at her, sorrow in his eyes. "If that's what it takes for you to stay here with Harry and Ron so Voldemort will be defeated, then I…I am." His eyes burned as he said this, his heart kept telling him to take it back, but Draco knew he could not even if he wanted to. The damage had been done._

_Hermione looked at him, a mix of sorrow and hatred in her eyes. "I hate you, Draco Malfoy. I never want to see you again. NEVER!"_

_With that, Hermione ran out the door, sobbing._

_Draco looked at the spot where she had been standing, feeling more pain than he had in his entire life. His eyes shined with tears for a moment before they spilled onto his cheeks, faster and harder with every passing second. Draco Malfoy could not compose himself. He was truly crying for the first time._

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At the end of this final, heart-wrenching memory, the connection between them was broken, bringing Hermione and Draco back to reality. Hermione immediately looked away, trying to stifle a sob. The memories had done the trick; they had aroused her from her relatively lifeless state.

Meanwhile, Draco was looking quite dazed and lost in thought. It had been so long since he thought back on those memories. He remembered how those memories had helped him get through the rough times he had faced for the past two years. The thought of Hermione had always brought him a bit of encouragement, support, _hope_.

But somehow, the last memory always seemed to accompany all the good memories, leaving Draco only feeling more terrible and guilty. And the was ultimately why he tried to forget her completely, tried to forget how she had changed him for the better, tried to forget how much she meant to him.

But now, Draco was sick of trying to forget. Hermione was sitting right in front of his very eyes after two very _long_ years and only a fool would let her walk away again.

Draco turned to look at Hermione, only to find her head buried in her hands. Every once in a while, you could hear a small sniffle or sob.

He gently grasped her wrists with his hands and pulled her hands away from her face, causing her to look up at him. Her face was tear-stricken, her eyes puffy.

He shook his head and said, "Don't hide your pain, Hermione. You've been doing that far too long. Cry it out."

He watched her sympathetically as she sobbed her poor heart out. Seeing those wonderful memories again made her remember just how much she had worried about Draco, missed Draco, loved Draco…

It wasn't too long before Hermione spoke. She had so many things she wanted to ask and say.

"You left me Draco, never owling or somehow letting me know that you were alive. Didn't you care that I was worried about you? There hasn't been a single day that's passed where I haven't wondered if you were safe, wondered if you still loved me." She spoke between sobs. Hermione paused to wipe the tears off of her face, before speaking again, her voice becoming steadily stronger. "But what did you go do? You ran away and disappeared, leaving me behind and taking my heart with you."

Draco looked at her, a look of sorrow and sympathy on his face. "Hermione, you know I never meant to hurt you. I had to leave and I just couldn't take you with me. I always wanted to owl you, but what if my owl got intercepted? My whereabouts as well as yours could have been discovered, and I wasn't going to go put your life in danger." He stopped to gently brush a tear away that had fallen onto Hermione's cheek. "Everything was for your own good, even if I did hurt you and cause you pain. I'm sorry for that, but I did what I knew was right. You of all people should know that doing the right thing is rarely every easy or painless." he ended softly.

"You don't understand Draco. There are only three people that mean more to me than anyone or anything else in the world: Ron, Harry, and you. And I've seemed to lost all of you at the same time." She spoke earnestly, tears slowly making their way out of her eyes again.

"Ron left me. He's dead, Draco. DEAD! And when he died, a part of me died with him." The grief Hermione always felt when she thought about Ron's death could clearly be seen on her face. "And Harry? I've pretty much lost him and the part of me I gave to him too. He's an emotional wreck. He's lost all belief in the war and everything he's fought for. He confines himself in his room all day, refusing to talk to anyone. But you know what hurts most Draco? The fact that my poor friend is suffering and needs me now more than ever when I, for the first time in my life, can't be there for him." Hermione's eyes almost blazed with guilt and repentance.

"I can't be there for him because I no longer have any belief to offer him. And you know why that is? Because even though Ron and Harry left me to fend for myself, I've been able to cope. Even though nearly half of me seems to be dead or missing without them, I was able to pull myself through and survive. But the one thing I couldn't survive through, cope with, was the fact that the person who meant the most to me, the one I would die for without even a single thought, left me and took the biggest part of me with him. You vanished and everything I had gradually went with you: my will-power, my determination, my courage, my hope…"

Her voice, which had been becoming louder with every word, suddenly went silent. Hermione couldn't continue. She looked down at the ground and broke down to tears, suddenly realizing the horrible truth behind her words. She too had lost faith in everything she believed in. Hermione Granger, one of the most strong-willed and dedicated witches of all time, had been reduced to a nobody and left with nothing. When her hope died, it took everything with it.

Hermione, for perhaps the millionth time today, looked like a mess. Her whole face was wet with tears, her eyes were bloodshot, pain and sorrow searing through the red, and her hair was flying around freely in disarray.

She slowly looked up to see if Draco understood what she was trying so hard to say. The regret and helplessness on his face was answer enough. He pitied her, felt her pain. Draco had never seen Hermione look so defeated, so broken before. It brought great sadness and shame to his heart to have to see the day.

When Hermione managed to find her voice, she spoke once more, her tone now much softer than before.

"I've lost hope, Draco. Don't you see? I've lost everything: everything I believed in and followed, my two closest friends, the only person I could ever love…everything is gone. There's nothing left. In an instant everything that had meant something to me was snatched away." She looked at him, a distressed smile tugging at her lips. "I don't care about anything anymore, Draco. I think Death may be better than this…"

Draco immediately cut her off, grasping her shoulders firmly. "Don't say that, Hermione. Don't. It's not true. You do care; I know you do. You just need a push in the right direction. And I'm here now, Hermione. I'm here to give you that little push and support you need. I'm here to help you the same way you helped me when my mother died. I'm willing to do anything it takes to make you believe again, to give you a reason to live, to get back the undeterred and fiery Hermione I know so well." His eyes were pleading her to understand that he meant every word he said.

Before Hermione could come up with some negative response, Draco cupped her face in his hands and leaned in towards her until the gap between their lips was closed.

It wasn't much, only a lingering, tender kiss. But for Hermione and Draco, it was more than enough. As soon as their lips touched, both of them felt an unexplainable warmth and they melted into the moment, feeling like for the first time in two years, they were where they belonged, with each other.

Hermione was the one to end the kiss, separating herself from Draco only enough so she could stare him in the eye. "Tha…" she started, but Draco put his finger on her lips to silence her.

He said, "Shh, I don't want to hear it" before recapturing her lips with his own. As the kiss deepened, his hands left her face and trailed down to her waist. He slowly began to rise, causing Hermione to stand up with him in order to keep intimate contact, his grip on her waist helping her up.

The whole time, they continued to sink into their kiss with greater fervor and kept at it long after they were standing. When Draco heard her panting slightly, he pulled away, his arms still wrapped around her waist. He looked down at her lovingly and when Hermione looked up at him with a similar expression, he spoke,

"You don't have to thank me, Hermione. After all, that's what I'm here for: to help you stand on your fee again when you've fallen down…literally." He said, smiling.

Hermione smiled back, a happy and genuine smile. Leave it to Draco to take her words and use them both figuratively and literally. She had gotten so caught up in the war and her resentment towards him that she had forgotten how sweet Draco could really be.

"I love you Draco," she said in response, pecking him on the cheek.

Draco gave her his traditional smirk. He replied, "I know", earning him a light smack on his shoulder from Hermione.

"Still cocky, are we?"

"Still have no sense of humor, I see."

Hermione glared at him and it felt surprisingly good. She missed fighting with him over stupid things and throwing insults at each other for fun. It was nice to see that their situations may have changed but he was still very much the same.

"Come on, Hermione, it wouldn't be any fun if I was sickly romantic, now would it? If I were to say 'Oh, Hermione darling, I love you more than all the riches in the world because for me, you're the diamond that surpasses them all.' First of all, I doubt that rubbish made sense. Second, you would probably think I've gone mad."

Hermione laughed at his imitation. "I think it's too late for that Draco. You've gone mad already."

"Is that what you think, Hermione?" he asked, a mischievous look on his face.

"Quite frankly, yes." She replied, smiling.

Draco looked as if he was analyzing her and what she had said before replying,

"I agree with you," causing Hermione to raise an eyebrow. Draco continued, "I agree with you because someone would most definitely have to be mad to love you."

Hermione feigned a scowl and made her way to hit him on his shoulder again, but Draco grabbed hold of her wrist. He pulled Hermione towards him, taking her in for another kiss.

His grasp on her wrist slowly let loose as his hands once again made their way down to her waist. Hermione, who was kissing him back so willingly, let her hands travel to his hair. Draco couldn't help but thinking that he had _definitely_ missed this.

Before the kiss could deepen, Draco pulled away, leaving Hermione flustered and puzzled. What he did next, though, made Hermione squeal in surprise. He put one of his arms under her knees and the other one around her upper back like before, lifting her off the ground.

Although Hermione was tempted to tell Draco to put her down, she said nothing, only put he arm around his neck/shoulder so she wouldn't fall.

With dinner forgotten, Draco carried her to the bedroom where they fell asleep in one another's arms, sleeping better than they had for over two years. Because for that one night, the war, the deaths, and all other problems were forgotten. They were together and being together again was more than they could have ever hoped for.

They were in such bliss that Hermione failed to see her wand desperately glowing a bright purple all night.

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**Hey you guys. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I personally think the romance was much needed after two chapters of crying, lol. Anyways, please leave me a review to tell me what you thought. They really do brighten up my day.**

**I'll be posting the next and final installment of the story after I get some feedback. Thanks for your time and patience!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: A Love's Sacrifice_

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Hermione woke up with the smell of pancakes filling the air. She opened her eyes feeling more refreshed than ever before, feeling very much alive. She surveyed the surroundings of the bedroom and seeing the green and silver theme in the room reminded her where she was.

The thought of Draco made her smile. It had felt so wonderful sleeping in the comfort of his arms, snuggled up in comfortable, satin blankets. Last night, she felt like she was where she belonged.

She looked at the other side of the bed to see it already made up. A simple but elegant royal blue robe sat on the edge of the bed for her. Marveling at Draco's wonderful taste, she got out of bed and went to the adjoined bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

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Breakfast was like everything else that morning for Hermione: wonderful. She was pleasantly surprised to find Draco cooking the Muggle way and even happier to discover that the food was delicious.

Hermione had never been in such high spirits before. For a moment, life seemed perfect to her. All through breakfast, she talked animatedly about a variety of subjects, only pausing to fill her mouth with some food from time to time.

Draco, who noticed the extreme change in her behavior, smiled. The enthusiasm in her voice and the way she immersed herself into every word she said reminded him of the Hogwarts days when she would go on and on about facts on a subject she had read in a book. It was nice to see her so carefree, so alive, and so interested in the world around her. Yesterday, the Hermione he saw was very much different.

But that was the thing. Draco knew by the sparkle in her eye as she spoke and the confident demeanor she was holding that something had changed within Hermione last night. Being with Draco had given her back something she had lost: hope. And just like everything she had felt or believed in had left along with her hope, they all returned with it just as strongly.

The Hermione Granger he knew was back, even if she hadn't realized it yet. Draco smirked a little, knowing full well that he had something to do with it, before paying attention to Hermione once more.

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It wasn't until after breakfast that Hermione saw her wand glowing purple. The happiness on her face was quickly wiped off, replaced with a firm grimness.

With everything that had happened last night, Hermione had completely forgotten about the fact that the Order had been expecting her back an hour after she had left.

She cursed herself for being so foolish before refocusing on the matter at hand. The Order knew she was alive, that she was sure of. They had decided to cast a charm on all the Order members' wands so that the Order would know if a member was alive or dead if they had disappeared. Her wand glowing purple was indication to them that she was indeed alive.

_They must have been worried sick when they heard of the attack at Diagon Alley_, she thought to herself, her mind racing as it processed all this new information. For her own safety purposes, they would have had to wait three hours before attempting to contact her wand.

Hermione looked at her wand again. She guessed that it must have been glowing for some time now, so the Order must want to know more than whether she was alive. _They must be trying to signal me to return to headquarters_, she mused to herself, her forehead creased in concentration.

With this thought, Hermione made up her mind. She tucked her wand into an easily accessible pocket and was in the process of throwing her cloak on when Draco walked in.

"What's going on Hermione? Where are you going?" he asked, worry etched on his face at seeing Hermione looking so grim.

"The Order's been trying to contact me to see if I'm alright. I need to head back to headquarters. I have a feeling something urgent is happening." She said resolutely, her voice never once quavering.

Hermione stopped moving and looked at Draco.

"I have to leave Draco," she said quietly, almost wishing he wouldn't hear her.

Draco looked at her seriously as an inner battle took place in his mind. After a long minute of silence, he said,

"I'm coming with you." His voice was firm and had a finalizing tone to it.

"Draco, you can't be serious. You have to stay in hiding…" Hermione began, her rational mind speaking instead of her irrational heart.

"I don't care, Hermione. The Final Battle is in sight. I can sense it." His voice was strong and powerful but it immediately softened before he continued, "But more importantly Hermione, I don't want to lose you again. I've already made that mistake once. From now on, we stick together, even if it means…" his voice trailed off, but Hermione finished it.

"…the death of us." She gave him a small smile before running towards him and kissing him squarely on the lips.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asked him, her arms wrapped around his neck.

He smirked at her gesture, pecked her quickly on the lips, and nodded.

And so together, Draco and Hermione apparated to the Order of Pheonix Headquarters.

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The first thing Hermione saw when she popped into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place was the unruly figure of Harry Potter, pacing back and forth in worry.

His head turned immediately at the popping sound and a wave of relief coursed through his body when he saw Hermione stranding there, looking as healthy and well as ever.

He quickly rushed up to her, talking her in a warm but friendly embrace. Draco's presence beside her was momentarily missed.

After letting go of her, Harry quickly began piling her with questions. "Where were you Hermione? Did the Death Eaters harm you in any way? Why didn't you come back yesterday? You haven o idea how worried I was…" Harry ran a hand through the mess on his head called hair as he tried to calm himself.

By now, Remus, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley had entered the room to find out what all the commotion was about. When they saw Hermione standing there, they all came over to her, giving her hugs and pats on the back to show their relief at seeing her in one piece.

"Where were you Hermione? We were so worried!" Tonks exclaimed, still feeling a bit anxious.

Remus came by Tonk's side. "What happened in Diagon Alley? How many Death Eaters were there?"

Hermione laughed. "One question at a time. If you all must know, I managed to get away from the Death Eaters but was extremely weak. Luckily, Draco here came along and took me to his underground flat. I decided it would be best to lay low and ended up spending the night there." She ended with a smile in Draco's directions, who was clearly surprised but impressed by the way she smoothly tweaked the end of her little story.

He smirked and Hermione blushed slightly before turning her attention to the four others in the room once more.

"So, what's the update? I'm assuming the constant glowing of my wand means that something important has come up."

This comment snapped everyone in the room out of their own thoughts and back to reality. All of them had either been shocked to see Draco so alive and well after two years or had been eyeing Hermione curiously when noticing the significant change in her attitude and behavior (this was mainly Tonks).

Harry was the one to break the silence. He sent a nod of acknowledgement towards Draco before speaking.

"As always, Hermione, you have it right. The Final Battle is near, very near. And Lupin says it's necessary to start planning if we want even a 1 chance of winning."

For Hermione, it was clear that the pessimism in the end was Harry's belief, not Lupin's.

Hermione, who was determined to change Harry's attitude, replied in a powerful voice. "Well let's get started now, shall we? I'm sure with all of our minds as well as Draco's, we can change that 1 into a 100 chance of winning."

Her eyes blazed with a fiery determination that took everyone, including Hermione herself, by surprise. Well, everyone but Draco. He just smiled knowingly at her.

It was at that moment that Hermione knew. The cheerful mood, the confidence, the determination, the optimism. They were all signs of one thing and one thing only: she had gotten her hope back.

Hermione couldn't have been happier. She suddenly felt an air of invincibility. And she knew just who to thank for this. She turned her head towards Draco, wishing she could hug him or kiss him, anything to let him know just how grateful she was.

Spending a night in the comfort of Draco's arms had seemed so improbable to Hermione that she couldn't even dream of such a thing. For it to become a reality had changed Hermione. It had made her realize there's always something to hope for, even when the future may seem bleak. She discovered that the power of the mind, the power of hope, is an incredible thing. It can change fate itself.

And that's what Hermione had full intent of doing. Changing fate and changing circumstances so the good side would win the war, so the Wizarding World will forever be free of Voldemort.

With this thought firmly wrapped around in her mind and driving her, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table, an entirely different woman from the previous day, and began to plan with those around her the demise of Lord Voldemort.

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Only an hour passed and the plan was relatively complete. Harry, Hermione, and Draco were in the kitchen, making themselves some cups of hot chocolate to drink before they finished planning the remaining portion of their plan.

The adults, meanwhile, sat at the kitchen table in deep silence. Remus and Arthur looked positively dumbstruck, rendered absolutely speechless. Tonks' looked so amazed and shocked that one could not even put it to words. There on the table in front of them lay a brilliant, quite foolproof strategy that could potentially win them the war.

It felt like a miracle to the three of them. Ever since news arrived that the Final Battle was approaching, they had been deep in worry. Although Remus and Arthur had started working on a plan of their own, they didn't think that they would have a decent one set by the time the battle arrived. And even if they did, the three adults had hit the point where they seriously doubted their chances of winning anyway.

But the sight before them proved otherwise. They had just witnessed Hermione Granger come up with a plan that wasn't just decent, but absolutely astounding. It was a plan better than anything they could have come up with and it actually gave them a chance at being victorious. But all of this wasn't what shocked the three most. It was the fact that she was able to come up with such a plan primarily on her own in the span of a mere hour when it would have taken most of the greatest witches and wizards days. They weren't ones to underestimate Hermione's intelligence, but for her to work so quickly and brilliantly was mind-boggling.

They simply couldn't believe their eyes. They didn't understand how Hermione could still be so determined, so fiery, and so dedicated after everything she'd been through. Tonks most especially couldn't make anything out of it, not after the kind of state she had seen the poor girl in just yesterday.

The thing that was bothering the three adults most was just how she was able to do it. They didn't know how anyone could accomplish so much in such little time, especially in the circumstances they were facing now.

But then again, they didn't know the half of it. No one did. Except for Hermione and Draco, that is.

There was actually a lot Hermione and Draco knew that the group didn't, like their relationship. There was something going on between them, that much everyone knew for sure. But they couldn't figure out exactly what it was.

Harry was pondering this very topic in the back of his head as absentmindedly stirred his hot chocolate, his eyes on Hermione and Draco. They talked as if they were friends; no traces of their past enmity could by found. They even called each other by their first names with absolute ease. And all of this puzzled Harry. Last time he recalled, Hermione had shared an equal loathing for Malfoy as he had. There was definitely more here than what meets the eye.

While Harry was busily trying to decode the strange relationship between his best friend and former enemy, Hermione's mind was on far more serious matters: the end portion of their plan. Although the end part didn't involve nearly as many people, Hermione knew that the outcome would really decide the fate of the Wizarding World.

But the enormity of the battle wasn't what was bothering her most. It was the means that would decide it that had her feeling terribly upset. She knew someone was going to have to die, but would it be Voldemort or…Harry?

Hermione mentally scolded herself for pondering on the subject when she didn't need to. She didn't need to cry right now; if anything, she needed to be stronger than ever before. And at the moment, there was only one way to do that: concentrate on something else.

Hastily wiping her eyes that had watered up amidst her thoughts, Hermione focused her attention on making her hot chocolate as slowly as she could, hoping to avoid the issue as long as possible.

Draco, who knew Hermione far better than she gave him credit for, subtly moved down towards where she was standing at the counter with his cup, pretending to move there to get some marshmallows from the bag right next to her. Adding a few in, he focused on stirring his drink with one hand while the other one sneaked towards Hermione's. After making sure no one could see where his hand was, he returned his eyes on to his drink before slipping his hand into her own and giving it a comforting squeeze.

Hermione, who had been so busy staring at her hot chocolate as it swirled round and round in her cup, almost jumped when she felt his warm, smooth skin touch hers. She looked at him curiously to try and figure out what exactly he was aiming to do but Draco was looking as if nothing had happened. Ignoring her completely, he stirred his drink a little before picking it up and taking a sip. His attempt to act innocent failed, though, when a small smirk tugged at his lips as he put his cup down.

Hermione smiled, shaking her head in disbelief at the nerve the man beside her had. She wasn't one to underestimate Draco's abilities, but to toy with her when Harry was standing on the other side of the kitchen counter only a few feet away and probably looking at them was definitely not something she was expecting, not especially when considering the circumstances.

And not to her surprise, when Hermione quickly peeked a glance at Harry, she saw him looking in their direction, lost in his thoughts.

So did Harry see the interaction between the two of them? Not of all of it, no, but he saw a sufficient amount to further heighten his curiosity on what was going on between the two. Of course, he didn't see Hermione's hand entwined with Draco's because Malfoy had made it a deliberate point to hide that view, but it was impossible to miss his smirk and Hermione's smile and shake of the head.

Harry continued to mull over his thoughts until Hermione and Draco walked over to where he was standing to begin what would probably be a very uncomfortable conversation.

For a moment, they just stood there silently, waiting for someone to begin the dreaded topic. Hermione's eyes had taken a keen interest in the ground and she constantly fidgeted around, making it very clear how jumpy and anxious she was. Harry too was looking at his empty cup, tracing the rim with his finger around and around again. Draco watched the two and their actions with mild interest and worry.

Never having been very patient, Draco was quick to become exasperated and so cleared his throat to get their attention. Hermione jumped up and shot a mild glare at him for scaring her while Harry just looked up at him, a very passive look resting upon his face.

"So where did we leave off Hermione?" He spoke in a hushed tone, fully aware that the adults were sitting at the table not far off from where they were standing.

Hermione, who almost looked like she was trembling, took a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak. "We have taken care of…"

Before Hermione could continue, though, the door to the Headquarters was opened and in entered a limping Mundungus and a tired and grimy Alastor Moody.

Hermione let out a small sigh of relief at the unexpected delay, but her body was still a bit shaken up.

Remus and Arthur immediately stood up and helped the two newcomers to their chairs, while Tonks ran into the kitchen to bring them cups of hot chocolate to drink.

After Moody caught his breath, he finally spoke, "Mundungus and I have brought some good news." His normal eye was focused on Arthur and Remus, but the magical one was curiously watching Draco.

"The battle near King's Cross was a pretty big success for the Order. It was pretty clear that those bloody Death Eaters weren't expecting as many losses as they ended up having, so we're pretty certain there's been a minor setback in their plans. We've earned ourselves a bit more time than we thought we had before the Final Battle. That should give us more time to come up with a full battle plan," he finished, his normal eye moving down to the battle plan on the kitchen table while the magical one looking towards Draco, Harry, and Hermione as if it had just read their thoughts.

But Hermione wasn't paying attention to the eye at all. Her mind simply processed the fact that they didn't have to continue planning today, and that was really all she needed to hear.

When Harry turned back to them and asked, "Should we continue on with our planning or leave it for later?", Hermione only heard from "Should" to "planning" before she ran from the room and upstairs to her bedroom, her head in her hands to keep the tears from showing.

Harry, who had not realized just how upset Hermione was over the whole topic, immediately yelled, "Hermione, wait!" before making a start to run after her.

He didn't move at all, though, because Draco got a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Let her go, Potter," his voice soft and without malice, even now that Hermione was out of the room.

Harry turned to glare at Malfoy, every trace of thought of how Draco seemed so changed gone from his mind.

"What do you think you are doing, Malfoy? Hermione's upset. I have to go after her!" Harry said, his voice filled with frustration and worry, turning to face Malfoy.

"Trust me, Potter." Malfoy began, but was cut off with a small involuntary scoff that came out of Harry's mouth. Harry couldn't have stopped it if he had wanted to; it was just such a natural reaction.

Draco had to keep himself from sneering at Harry. Ooh, how that bloody boy boiled his blood.

"I didn't ask for the sound effects, Potter, thank you very much. If you didn't interrupt me, maybe what I was going to say would not have sounded so unbelievable to your ears either." Draco tried to keep himself calm, but a hint of anger could definitely be traced in his voice.

Instead of continuing on with the spat like he normally would have, Harry kept quiet and nodded to Draco to continue. After being rude when Malfoy was making such a conscious effort to be nice to him, he felt he owed him this much.

Knowing Harry's actions were as close as he was going to get to an apology, Malfoy took a deep breath before continuing, "When I said 'Trust me, Potter', I meant that I know Hermione well enough to know when she wants to be left alone. Don't ask me how I know because that's something you're not going to get out of me, but I just want to make it clear to you that I am not trying to purposely make her suffer or anything. It's just one of those few things that I have to come to know about her, and I can bet you my life that she needs to be alone more than anything else right now." Draco ended, quite out of breath and with a horrible feeling that he had been babbling a bit.

When Harry looked like he was about to protest, Draco stopped him by continuing, "I haven't returned here, hoping we can become chummy pals for life or anything. I'm not even hoping that you will come to like me. Hate me for all I care. Don't trust me in every other matter if you don't want to. But all I'm asking you to do is give me a chance when it involves Hermione and when we are around her. You may not like it, but you're going to have to face it. Hermione and I are friends." He paused, trying to keep himself from snorting at what an understatement that was, before clearing his throat and continuing,

"She does trust me, and even though I'm sure you're not going to want to hear this, you're going to have to trust me when it regards her and you're going to at least have to pretend to be okay with me around her, got that? She is so stressed out and upset as it is. You should've seen her when I found her yesterday. And even though she seems almost as good as new today, she's still fragile and I'm not going to do anything that will make her as broken as I saw her last night."

By the time Malfoy had uttered his last words, Harry was definitely surprised. Sure he had expected something decently kind, but boy did the words that actually came out of Malfoy's mouth blow Harry away.

He didn't want to say anything. In fact, he really didn't need to say anything. Draco Malfoy had just said it all, and knowing full well that he had. Not sparing even a moment longer, Malfoy smoothly exited the room, his robes swishing behind him as he left.

Harry simply stood there for a while, staring at the place where Draco Malfoy had been not long ago. There was something about him that got to Harry. Maybe it was his very sudden connection to Hermione, or maybe it was the rather passionate speech he had just given Harry in his own defense. Harry didn't know. All Harry knew at the moment was that there was a sort of silent, mutual understanding between him and Malfoy and along with this understanding had come a greater respect for the blond man than ever before.

It wasn't a respect that simply erased his previous hatred for the man or the fact that he was having trouble trusting him on anything, even in regard to Hermione. No, it really didn't change a thing about his past views. All this new respect did was make Harry willing to give Malfoy a chance. But as small as that may have seemed, it was enough.

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The rest of the day passed in relative silence. The adults had been busy out and about, trying to inform all the Order members of the plan thus far.

Harry spent the rest of the day thinking either about the upcoming battle or Hermione. Sometimes, he threw a glance at Hermione's bedroom door, longing to open it and comfort his friend who had been hiding in there and avoiding everybody all day.

After Draco's words replayed in his mind, though, he resisted the temptation. He not only wanted to keep the promise he made himself to give Draco a chance, but the more he thought about, the more Harry realized that anything he would say to Hermione to try to comfort her would probably only serve to upset her more.

Draco was in a similar dilemma. He spent the whole day in his room thinking about Hermione. He wanted to so badly go and hug her, comfort her, and tell her everything was going to be okay even though it wasn't.

But unlike Harry, who had finally managed to ease up and not worry so much about her because he knew she would come around, Draco spent the whole day pacing and worrying about her, although he only made these emotions visible in the privacy of his own room. Even though he managed to convince Harry about Hermione going to be okay, Draco clearly had not convinced himself.

By eleven that night, everybody had retired to their respective rooms for the night to try and get some sleep. Harry too went to sleep, although reluctantly because his worry about Hermione had returned by the end of the night. She had never come out of her room and didn't eat dinner, not even after Harry put a plate of food outside of her room door for her. Draco had managed to convince Harry that she would come around by the next morning, but he was still not at ease as he closed his eyes and let sleep overcome him.

As for Draco himself, he was the only one still awake. He made it appear as if he had gone to sleep, and then, when he was sure everyone else had gone to bed, he snuck out of his room and quietly made his way to the living room.

And sure enough, there he found Hermione curled up in an armchair as she gazed at the fire burning vibrantly in the hearth.

He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed across his chest, and watched her carefully.

Hermione didn't ever move a muscle. She sat there as still as a statue, looking absently into the fire.

But the blaze of the fire didn't seem to reach her eyes. It was as if her eyes had been shielded from reflecting what they saw. They seemed to be glazed over with a thin sheet of mist, presumably caused by the tears that had fallen not too long ago. It made her fiery chocolate brown eyes look foggy and emotionless, making it impossible to see what she was thinking or feeling.

Although Hermione seemed to be lost in thought, her senses were as acute and alert as ever. It didn't take her long to feel someone's presence in the room. She surprised Draco by quickly turning around and looking him straight in the eye. Her body, which had gone instinctively tense as she turned, relaxed a bit at seeing it was just him.

She kept watching him for only a moment, her eyes still undecipherable to Draco, before turning around and gazing into the fire once more.

Draco, who was carefully analyzing Hermione's each and every move, said nothing. Instead, he made his way towards the armchair right next to Hermione's and sat down, his eyes fixed on the back of her head.

They were both quiet for a minute, as if daring the other to speak first. When Hermione still refused to say anything, Draco gently placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to make her face him. He was a bit surprised to see a few tears spilling onto her cheeks.

Draco felt a pang of pity and guilt. For some reason, he felt like he was the cause of these tears. Kneeling in front of the chair in which she was sitting, Draco wiped each tear away, one by one, with his thumb. He looked her in the eyes in the moment before finally speaking.

"Hermione, you have to stop crying. There's so much we still have to do before the Final Battle arrives and we can't do any of it without you."

When Hermione suddenly stopped crying and her face become all hard and determined, Draco, who had stood up, realized that those tears were out of frustration and irritation at herself than out of sorrow.

Hermione got off her chair to stand up and meet Draco at eye level.

"Look, Hermione, I know this is hard for you…"

Before Draco could finish, Hermione cut him off. "Hard for me? You think this is hard for me? Boy is that a ridiculous understatement. Why don't you try excruciatingly painful? Because even though that doesn't even begin to describe just how difficult things are for me right now, it'll give you an idea of just how much this is hurting me."

Draco was about to protest but Hermione ignored him and continued.

"How would you feel, Draco? How would you feel if everyone was counting on you to come up with a plan that will win you a war even though the end of your plans includes the possible death of the best friend that you have stood by for over ten years? Explain that to me, Draco. How would you feel if you were in my place?

"Would you like to know how I feel right now? I hate my situation more than anything else in the world. How can they possibly expect me to create a plan that involves my best friend sacrificing his life in the process?

"And don't even dare start telling me all that nonsense about how everything is going to be okay and Harry'll pull through this because those are total lies and both you and I know that. You can try to hide the truth from me as long as you'd like but I'm not stupid, Draco. I very well know that Voldemort has been getting stronger day by day and not even Avada Kedavra can kill him."

By now, Hermione was red in the face and out of breath. Angry tears were spilling from her eyes as they blazed at Draco, as if daring him to say something in response.

And of course, Draco took on the dare.

"Do you think this is just about you? Well, wake up and smell the coffee, Hermione dear, because this goes way beyond just you. You ask me if I have any idea how hard this is for you? No, not really. But what I do know is that you need to get out of the little closed box you're living in right now. You're so busy thinking about the outcome of the battle and how it's going to affect you but have you taken the time to even consider what's going through Potter's head right now?" Draco's voice had this hard icyness to it.

The realization on her face told him his answer. Softening his tone and putting his hands gently on her arms, he continued,

"Hermione, I know this is hard for you. Sorry, correction. Excrutiatingly painful." he corrected himself, trying to coax out a small smile from Hermione's lips. "But Hermione, put yourself in Pott...Harry's place. You think he's stupid? I'm sure he's quite aware of the real situation of things, including the sacrifice he's going to have to make. For a minute, just forget about how it feels to know that you're going to have to devise a plan that includes the potential sacrifice of your best friend and just imagine how it must feel to be Harry. Imagine what it must feel like to know that you're going to have die before you've even really begun to live your life in order to save the whole Wizarding World."

Hermione looked at Draco, an overwhelming sadness and defeat filling up her eyes. "What am I supposed to do? How can I possibly help Harry when I'm a total mess myself. You don't get it Draco. I can't do this. The Order is asking too much from me this time. My courage and bravery can only go so far. I can only take so much before the situations cross the line. And making me come up with a plan where I'm going to lose one of the last few people left who know me and understand me better than myself is crossing that line. I can't do it, Draco. I just can't do it."

And with that, Hermione fell towards Draco, her face buried in his chest, and began to cry.

Draco quickly wrapped his arms around Hermione's shaking frame and let her sob into his chest. He couldn't provide any better support than that right now.

When Hermione's sobs had subsided to mere sniffles, Draco still had her tightly in his arms. Gently placing her hand on his chest, she pushed herself away just enough so that she could look him in the face properly.

"What are we going to do, Draco? How are we going to get rid of Voldemort when no known curse can kill him or affect him strongly enough so we can finish him off? Then, Harry will not only," Hermione choked for a moment, "die, but his sacrifice will go to waste. If he has to...die, then we need to win this war mainly for his sake." Hermione's voice had been reduced to a mere whisper.

Draco looked at her earnestly. "You're giving up hope too quickly, Hermione. There has to be a way to kill Voldemort. He's not immortal _yet_."

"Then tell me what the way is Draco. It can be anything, can be any measure, can be at any cost. We need to finish that man, that creature, off."

Draco's face looked determined. He stopped pacing and made his way over to the armchair where Hermione was sitting. Kneeling in front of it so they were face to face, he spoke. "Look, Hermione. I'm here now, and I;m going to find a way to end this no matter what. Just don't lose hope. We're going to need your hope if we ever want to pull through this."

"I won't lose hope, Draco. Not now. You standing here right beofre me is enough proof that miracles can happen."

Draco couldn't help but smile at her words. With someone like Hermione by his side, he knew anything was possible.

With that thought resting in his mind, Hermione sat in silence while Draco paced back and forth, both of them relentless wracking their brains for some kind of way to overcome the seemingly impossible.

With every passing monent of silence, an answer seemed even farther away. The more impossible a solution semed to b. No matter how Hermione tried, her hope was slowly beginning to waver and wilt away.

Just when Hermione thought it would be a lost cause, Draco finally broke the silence.

"There is a way, Hermione."

These words should have filled Hermione with joy, but the grim, dark edge in Draco's voice made her feel otherwise. As she took her eyes off the ground to look up at him, she noticed there was an eerie sort of aura that suddenly seemed to emanante from Draco, and Hermione knew there had to be some sort of a catch.

Hermione took her eyes off the ground to look up at him. "What is it?" Although her eyes were red and her face had fatigue written all over it, a determination resonated from her voice.

"There is a spell that you and I both found when we went on our only Order mission together. About two and a half years ago." he paused, waiting for the light bulb to flicker on in Hermione's head. Draco was about to continue speaking, when his eyes suddenly met hers. Although the two did not realize it, their pendants glowed brightly once again before they were whirled into yet another pensieve of memories.

_Hermione and Draco were under an Invisibility Cloak, carefully trailing behind what seemed to be a very drunk and careless Death Eater. Although the two realized the threat they were about to impose on themselves, they knew this was really the only way they would be able to steal back the prophecies the Death Eaters had stolen from a top security vault at the Ministry of Magic._

_Neither of them were exactly sure what the prophecies said, but the fact that Voldemort wanted the prophecies was reason enough for them to keep the prophecy scrolls away from him._

_As they approached the entrance to the hideout, Hermione and Draco were suddenly very tense and careful. They moved in extremely small steps and in perfect unison so that no one would be able to tell that they were coming under the Invisibility Cloak. They need not have feared though because they were skillfully able to slip through the security wards they had set up by trailing extremely close behind to the drunk man in front of them._

_Once they had gotten in, things were relatively easy. In their last battle, the Order had managed to catch a few Death Eaters, one of whom was stupid enough to carry around a full-out map of the interior of the main Death Eater hideout. Using that and a highly complicated tracking spell that had been placed on the ancient prophecy scrolls by the Ministry, Hermione and Draco spent barely any time locating the room where the scrolls were being kept._

_As they reached the door of the room, Draco confirmed that no one was in the corridor so that Hermione could open the door without it looking suspicious._

_Neither of them having said a word to each other since they had found the Death Eater that had helped them get in, Hermione was the first one to break the tense silence that had been grown between them with a very loud gasp._

_Draco, who had been carefully closing the door at the time, instinctively cast a silencing spell on the room so no one from the outside could hear them and a locking spell on the door. Then, turning his head to see the room they had entered for the first time, he couldn't help but smirk and roll his eyes. No wonder Hermione had gasped and looked like she was ready to squeal with glee. They had ended up in a library._

_Hermione was too engrossed in assessing the fairly large library the lay before her to even remember Draco's presenceo or their reason for coming there in the first place. It wasn't until Draco addressed her that she came back to her senses._

_"You do remember why we are here, right Hermione? This probably isn't the best time for fantasizing about books. You can spend all the time that you'd like doing that at Hogwarts' library."_

_Hermione gave him a scornful look. "Draco, sometimes you are so dense, it's ridiculous. This isn't just an ordinary library. This," she said, pointing at the vast shelves of books that surrounded her, "is a library full of the rarest books ever written. I'm willing to bet that some of the books that can be found in this room cannot be found anywhere else. So, just imagine all the different kinds of spell incantations and potion instructions that are in this very room that no one in today's Wizarding society even knows about. Voldemort probably doesn't even realize just how much powerful knowledge he has sitting in this room, nor has he probably looked at most of these books. There is so much valuable information sitting on these shelves, so if I were you Draco, I'd think twice before making fun of my reaction to this place."_

_And with those final words, Hermione proudly strode toward the table located in the center of the room, knowing she had just won that round._

_She was absolutely right. Hermione's sudden tirade in response to his simple comment had surprised him. Not only hadn't he been expecting such a reply from her, but he had never even considered looking at the library in the way that she had. After hearing what Hermione had to say, Draco had to admit that what she said made terrific sense and he couldn't help but admire her for her way of thinking._

_Shaking his head in bafflement and defeat at being outspoken by the fiery Gryffindor yet again, Draco made his way to the table where Hermione was standing, a small smile resting on his lips._

_The table was filled with masses of paper and other clutter, but Hermione's keen eye almost immediately detected the scrolls that they had come here looking for. Carefully taking them out from the pile of junk that they had been buried under, Hermione handed them to Draco._

_Draco cast a Shrinking Spell on them so that they would fit in his pocket while Hermione took out tiny one inch scrolls from her pocket to hand to Draco. Remus and Arthur, who both knew what the prophecy scrolls contained, had created scrolls with false information for Hermione and Draco to replace the originals with. That way, Voldemort would hopefully be thrown off for some time._

_As Draco carefully shrunk the originals and enlargened the fake ones, Hermione wandered over to a random shelf in the library. She hadn't meant to take any books from the shelves but her curiosity got the better of her when she spotted a book that had no title on its side. Carefully sliding it off the shelf, she peered at the front cover to see the title of the book. To her great surprise, the book cover had absolutely no words on it._

_Having a feeling that this was no ordinary book, she called Draco over._

_"Draco, come take a look at this."_

_Draco looked at her questioningly before coming by her side. Meanwhile, Hermione tried to take the book off the shelf, but the book, which had seemed fairly light moments ago suddenly weighed a ton, and Hermione felt her whole body drop with the book as she struggled to lift it._

_Noticing this, Draco was quick to put one hand on the book to lift it up and wrapped his other arm around her waist, his hand on her hip, to help her regain her support._

_Once that issue was solved, Hermione found herself looking at the book in astonishment._

_"Draco, the book was seriously not that heavy when I first began taking it off the shelf. It's weight just suddenly changed."_

_"Remember, Hermione. You said these were rare books and rare books tend to do things that we cannot even begin to expect." His eyes were on the book, and he looked like he was thinking about something. "What possessed you to take this book off the shelf in the first place?"_

_"It doesn't have a title or any sort of other words on it, so I was just curious as to what may be in such a book."_

_Draco quickly glanced on the watch on his hand, before turning back to her. "Hermione, we can only stay here so long. The longer we stay, the greater the threat is of someone discovering us."_

_Hermione looked at the book longingly for a second, before looking back at Draco. "Please just give me a minute. I really want to know what's in this book."_

_Draco sighed before agreeing. "Okay, you can have your minute. But we can't stay much longer than that or else the Portkey in my pocket that we have to use to get back to the Order won't work and then we'll have to somehow use the Invisibility Cloak to get back, which will almost be impossible."_

_Hermione smiled at him in appreciation. "Thank you so much, Draco. You're the best!" she said, throwing her arm around his neck and giving him a tight hug. When she let go of him, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and tried to move away, but Draco was too fast for her. Taking up the opportunity, he grabbed her firmly by the waist, pulling her closer to him, and then kissed her, at first gently and then passionately._

_Hermione, whose hands had started to make their way to his hair, reluctantly pulled herself away from him. "Not right now, Draco. Remember, look at the book and get out of here. That was the plan."_

_Draco smirked. "Well, I think that is a lousy plan. It should be kiss Draco, look at the book, and get out of here."_

_Hermione scowled and playfully punched him on the arm, which apparently was a bit too strong because he slightly winced in pain._

_Hermione smiled innocently at this before taking the book, which had suddenly become light yet again, to the table. Draco followed closely behind her._

_Hermione didn't even realize Draco was right beside her until she felt his hand on top of her as she slowly opened the cover of the book._

_The tingling feeling of having his skin on hers must have sparked something, because suddenly, the book started flipping through the pages on its own. Hermione jumped back slightly, Draco grabbing her by the shoulders to keep her steady while his eyes stayed focused on the book that lay before him._

_Neither of them said a word as the book continued to flip through its pages._

_It was perhaps a minute before it just suddenly stopped. Hermione and Draco looked at each other before slowly inching closer to the book and peering at the page at which it stopped._

_And on the title of the page before them was "Diligo Vitualamen" folled by a sub-heading that said "The Rare Killing Curse"._

_Hermione and Draco were shocked, to say the least. There was another killing curse out there that no one even knew about. But their shock didn't end there. Before they could read more, there was a sudden glowing that filled the room. Curious as to know where the glowing was coming from, Hermione looked up from the book and at Draco. She blinked her eyes in disbelief when she saw a shining silver glow emanating from Draco._

_Draco, meanwhile, was watching her, the same exact disbelief on his face as he say a shining golden glow come off of Hermione._

_Both of them just had to barely point at each other before they got the message. They quickly looked down at themselves to discover that they were indeed glowing. _

_What caught Hermione's eye, though, was the pendant that Draco had given her that was resting on her neck. It wasn't just shining a mere gold, but instead, the gold and silver glow seemed to have entwined around it to produce a very beautiful silver-golden glow. Quickly looking at the pendant around Draco's neck, she discovered that the same thing had happened to his. _

_To say Hermione was baffled and blown away would have been a horrible understatement. She didn't have a single clue as to what was going on and that partly frightened her._

_Draco, who had sensed Hermione's insecurity, took her hand in his and gave it an assuring squeeze. She looked up at him, took a deep breath, and smiled._

_Turning back to the mysterious book in front of her, Hermione read the first paragraph in a low whisper. "The Diligo Vitualamen curse is perhaps the most powerful curse in existence today. This killing curse gets its power not from one caster, but from two. The Diligo Vitualamen cannot be cast by any random two people, though. There must be an unbreakable bond between them that holds true even in the darkest of times. Although there have been many people in the past who have indeed been soulmates, the spell still refuses to work for nearly all of them. Not only must the casters be bonded, but their magic must be powerful so that when joined, it can become unbeatable. There has only been one case where this spell has worked correctly..."_

_Hermione quickly scanned the next few lines before continuing. "If this spell is cast by two people who are not bonded to one another, the results can be disasterous. Not only will the spell fail to work, but the two who attempt to cast it will either lose their magic or die. For those who have the bond but not the magical power, the spell will just simply refuse to work and drain a great deal of energy from the casters."_

_Hermione paused at this point to try and assess what Draco thought about all of this. In response, she only got a raised eyebrow and a slight look of disbelief._

_Returning to the book once more, Hermione continued, "So how should two know people know if they are indeed able to cast this dark and powerful spell? They really can't know for sure. In the one time that the spell had worked, the casters said that a sign was sent to them, and after discovering the spell, they just knew deep down that it would work. We can assume that the sign must have been true because they were able to cast the spell successfully, but we were unable to confirm it because the two had mysteriously died shortly after."_

_Hermione looked up from the book, wide-eyed. "Do you think that the glowing..."_

_Draco looked at her assessively, before finishing her sentence. "...was our sign? Perhaps." He had intended to go on further but the words seemed to die in his throat as he realized the enormity of the discovery the two of them had just made. _

_Clearing his throat, he managed to speak. "What else does it say?"_

_"It just talks about how the spell supposedly works and the effects of it." Hermione said, as she began to read the rest of the page silently to herself. Draco came up behind her to read over her shoulder. _

_But as Hermione reached the end of the paragraph, her eyes widened and her body visibly tensed. She felt Draco do the same behind her. The result of casting the spell included..._

Hermione shut her eyes tight to try and get out of the pensieve before the memory could go any further. Luckily, it had worked.

Opening them and letting out the breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding, Hermione looked at Draco to see him a bit shaken up by the memory too.

"You're sure this is the only way, Draco?" she asked, her voice quivering as she refused to meet his gaze.

"I can't think of any other possible way. I'm sorry, Hermione." Draco said, sorrow hiding behind his every syllable.

Ignoring his apology, Hermione asked, "What about Harry? I know the book had said the spell was unbeatable, but the book and the spell had been created before anyone had seen a wizard as powerful as Voldemort." Her eyes were still glued to the ground.

As hard as Draco tried to not let Hermione's distant actions bother him, it wasn't working very well. He could not even begin to imagine all the pain she must be feeling. As for himself, he was used to pain, and even more familiar with how to numb it. Worrying about Hermione was a good way to ignore his own feelings.

"You're right. If we want this spell to work for sure, Voldemort needs to be weakened prior to our casting it. Which means..."

"Harry is still going to have to pretty much sacrifice himself." Hermione finished for Draco, bitterness and spite in her voice.

Draco felt exasperated. "Hermione, I thought we've been over this."

"Just because we've been over it does not mean I'm fine with, Draco. How do you expect me to accept the fact that my closest friend is going to die just because we've discussed the possibility already? No matter what you say, I'm not going to be able to just deal with it, Draco. I'm just not."

Draco ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he paced back and forth. Finally figuring out what he wanted to say, he stopped and turned towards Hermione.

"How many times do I have to say this, Hermione? How do you think Harry is feeling at knowing that he is going to have to put a fight that he knows from the beginning he's going to lose? Just imagine how he feels at knowing that he will have to fight a guaranteed lost battle and let Voldemort kill him just so he can save the Wizarding World and the people in it. And the worst part will be that those people will not even be able to understand just how big of a sacrifice he is making. People forget he is human, Hermione.

"If it weren't for the Order members and people like you and me who know just how hard this is going to be for him, his sacrifice would be pretty much worthless. Oh sure he would save the Wizarding World and people will just add even more fame to his name, but they will never really look at Harry as a person, as a young man who has to give up his life and his dreams so that others can pursue their lives and dreams. And you of all people know that Harry has never wanted to be a name in the history books. He has always wanted to be seen as a regular person.

"So Hermione, when I say that we've been over this, I'm not telling you to accept the fact that your friend is going to die like you would a fact in a book. That would be plain wrong because Harry may be the Boy-Who-Lived but he is first and foremost a person and your friend. I am simply telling you that you need to start coping with it now, because as sorry as I am to say this, his death can't be prevented and you and I both know it. This is a sacrifice that has to be made in order to save the Wizarding World from Voldemort and his power."

If it weren't for the state Hermione was in, she would have been in awe at Draco's powerful words. She looked up to him, tears swimming in her eyes, and spoke in a choked voice.

"But, why him Draco? Why does he have to go through all of this? He doesn't deserve all of this. All of Harry's life, he's always thought about others before himself. You can't be telling me that he's going to die doing the same thing, thinking about others before himself. If that's the case, his whole life has pretty much become a sacrifice." Hermione put her head down to keep Draco from seeing the tears that were coming onto her cheeks.

Draco knelt by her, and gently lifting her chin up with one hand and wiping the tears off her face with the other, looked into her eyes and spoke. "I don't know why it had to be Harry, Hermione. But I do know that not all of his life was a sacrifice. I'm sure his friendship with you and the bond he shares with you is far from a sacrifice in his life. Through good times or bad, you've been there for him, Hermione. You haven't let him down even once. And now Hermione, I'm asking you to continue to do the same. Be there for Harry right now because he needs you to help pull through this. He may have had to sacrifice a lot in the past, but now it's your turn to sacrifice. You need to think about Harry before yourself. You need to stay strong for Harry even if it kills you because you are the greatest friend he could ever hope to have." He ended, slowly standing up from where he had been kneeling.

Hermione had wanted to protest, wanted to tell Draco that she was putting Harry before herself because she was thinking about his well-being instead of the impact the Diligo Vitualamen curse would have on her, but she didn't because she knew he was right. No matter what excuse she used, she knew Draco was absolutely right.

Draco, who had prepared himself from yet another retort from Hermione, was shocked when she suddenly got up and threw her arms around him in an embrace, crying out what she vowed would be her last tears.

Draco wrapped his arms around her frame in an intimate squeeze, holding her nice and close as she got rid of all the tears that had wanted to spill.

After a moment of standing there in that position, Hermione gently lifted her head off of Draco's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Thank you, Draco. I don't know what I'd do without you." She paused for a moment, before adding in those three fateful words. "I love you."

Draco, who had not moved as she was speaking gently pulled Hermione away from him at hearing these last three words so he could see her face. He smirked at her.

"I love you too, Hermione."

And before Hermione could become an emotional wreck of tears again, he kissed her passionately on the lips.

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Harry was having trouble sleeping. He tossed and turned in his bed, moving from one position to the next in hopes of getting sleep, but it all ended in failure. His mind was just filled with too many worries and troubles for him to sleep. His situation in regards to Hermione and the coming battle which involved a horrible role for him had his stomach twisted in knots. Thinking about his potential, and very probable death was too much for him to handle so he simply tried to ignore it. But one thing or another kept bothering him.

Hoping that a glass of water would do the trick to refresh him and clear his mind, Harry slipped out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen.

After drinking his water and washing the glass, Harry made his way back upstairs. Upon reaching the stairs, though, Harry heard two voices coming from the living room. Making his way to the doorway and pressing himself to the wall next to it, he quietly stood there, listening to Hermione and Draco's conversation.

""How many times do I have to say this, Hermione? How do you think Harry is feeling at knowing that he is going to have to put a fight that he knows from the beginning he's going to lose? Just imagine how he feels at knowing that he will have to fight a guaranteed lost battle and let Voldemort kill him just so he can save the Wizarding World and the people in it. And the worst part will be that those people will not even be able to understand just how big of a sacrifice he is making. People forget he is human, Hermione.

"If it weren't for the Order members and people like you and me who know just how hard this is going to be for him, his sacrifice would be pretty much worthless. Oh sure he would save the Wizarding World and people will just add even more fame to his name, but they will never really look at Harry as a person, as a young man who has to give up his life and his dreams so that others can pursue their lives and dreams. And you of all people know that Harry has never wanted to be a name in the history books. He has always wanted to be seen as a regular person.

"So Hermione, when I say that we've been over this, I'm not telling you to accept the fact that your friend is going to die like you would a fact in a book. That would be plain wrong because Harry may be the Boy-Who-Lived but he is first and foremost a person and your friend. I am simply telling you that you need to start coping with it now, because as sorry as I am to say this, his death can't be prevented and you and I both know it. This is a sacrifice that has to be made in order to save the Wizarding World from Voldemort and his power."

"But, why him Draco? Why does he have to go through all of this? He doesn't deserve all of this. All of Harry's life, he's always thought about others before himself. You can't be telling me that he's going to die doing the same thing, thinking about others before himself. If that's the case, his whole life has pretty much become a sacrifice."

"I don't know why it had to be Harry, Hermione. But I do know that not all of his life was a sacrifice. I'm sure his friendship with you and the bond he shares with you is far from a sacrifice in his life. Through good times or bad, you've been there for him, Hermione. You haven't let him down even once. And now Hermione, I'm asking you to continue to do the same. Be there for Harry right now because he needs you to help pull through this. He may have had to sacrifice a lot in the past, but now it's your turn to sacrifice. You need to think about Harry before yourself. You need to stay strong for Harry even if it kills you because you are the greatest friend he could ever hope to have."

Harry was in absolute awe by the conversation he had just overheard. Slowly making his way up the stairs, his face was covered in utter disbelief.

He couldn't believe the words that had come out of Draco Malfoy's mouth. This was the Malfoy from his school years, the Malfoy who had hated Harry with every fiber of his body, and now, that very same boy stood in the living room downstairs in the form of a man and he was praising Harry, trying to understand him and his situation.

Harry had never really believed in miracles before, but after what he had just heard, he was sure that miracles could happen. Draco Malfoy was living proof of it.

And suddenly, his conversation with Draco earlier flashed vividly in his mind. Something about Draco had gotten to Harry that afternoon and formed a strong, well-founded respect for the blonde man. But now, it was a different respect that Harry held for Draco. It was the respect that _did_ erase his previous hatred for the man and a respect that brought trust in him. Harry Potter had said that he was willing to give Malfoy a chance. And now, in Harry's eyes, Malfoy had proved his full potential. Harry was now ready to trust Malfoy even with his own life.

In regards to the relationship between Draco and Hermione, he still wasn't exactly sure what was going on between the two of them but he had a faint idea. And Harry had no complaints against the hidden understanding between them. He didn't know how, why, or anything else but his gut feeling told him that Draco was involved in bringing the old Hermione back. And for that, Harry felt eternally grateful to him because it was Hermione's optimistic attitude that was going to get them through this war.

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After the night before's conversation, everything was back to normal, or at least as normal as it could get. Hermione came down the next morning as if nothing strange had happened the day before, and everybody took her heed to do the same.

And so, with a somewhat forced smile on her face, Hermione tried spending as much time as she could with all the Order members, constantly trying to cheer them up and make them laugh. Unfortunately the situation behind this facade of happiness was pretty bad. There was a nearly unbearable pain stabbing at her heart as she looked into each of their faces because she knew these may be her last moments with these people. After all, none of them really knew what the Final Battle would have in store for them.

No one really understood what was causing Hermione to suddenly act so optimistic again and they realized it was probably better not to ponder over the why question. All they knew was that it was great to have someone optimistic and supportive in the dull house to keep them going. For periods of time, she was even able to make them forget about the impending battle.

Although anyone who saw Draco that next morning would have seen him as a solemn young man incapable of emotion, Draco was indeed happy to see Hermione making such a conscious effort to help the others out. He knew how much Hermione wished she could just join them in pondering over their miseries, but it was better for her to keep herself occupied with keeping the rest of them in fairly good spirits. That way she would have something to keep her mind off of the Final Battle and what was to entail on that fateful day.

Harry, meanwhile, wasn't as pleased with Hermione's actions. Don't get him wrong or anything, he was happy to see Hermione out and about, interacting with everyone, but for some reason, it seemed to be everyone _but_ him. Sure, Hermione talked to him once a while and always sent him a reassuring smile but by the distance she otherwise kept from him, he could tell she was trying to subtly avoid him.

The worst part was that he knew why she was doing it. After overhearing last night's conversation, he knew exactly what was bothering her. So even though she managed to put a smile on her face and bring a smile to everyone else's, she still wasn't able to look Harry in the eye without feeling pain, overwhelming grief, and the need to break down, something Hermione had promised herself not to do anymore.

Harry knew he needed to talk to her, but finding the right time seemed to be an issue.

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It wasn't until late that afternoon that an opportunity opened up for Harry. Everyone had gone off after lunch to do their own respective tasks, and whoever didn't have anything to do went to their rooms, including Hermione.

After giving her some time on her own, Harry quietly made his way to her door and carefully opened it to see what Hermione was doing.

Hermione, who still had not noticed Harry's presence in her room, had her back faced to the door as she looked out the window before her, lost in her thoughts. She was sitting on her bed calmly, her hands folded gently on her lap, and because she wasn't even moving at the moment, Harry thought she looked like one of those Muggle dolls that sat on the shelves of the toy stores all day.

Softly closing the door behind him, he made his way over to where Hermione was on the bed and sat down beside her.

It wasn't until she felt his weight add onto the bed that she realized his presence.

She let out a small gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't hear you come in. I was just going to come and see what you were doing."

Harry put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Hermione. Not a big deal."

She sent him a small smile before turning her head to look back outside the window again.

"So, what was it that you came here for?" she asked him, her head still turned away from him.

Tightening his grip on her shoulder ever so slightly, he spoke. "We need to talk." His voice no longer had the lightheartedness it had had only moments ago.

Although Harry didn't realize it, Hermione audibly gulped. Slowly and reluctantly turning her head to face him once more, she asked seemingly innocently, "About what, Harry?"

Harry analyzed her carefully for a moment, taking advantage of the first time Hermione had really looked him in the face since the previous day. Then in a quiet, but firm voice, he said, "Malfoy told me everything."

Hermione's voice died in her throat and she visibly paled. If Harry knew everything, this was not going to end well. "Ever..ything?" she managed to stutter out.

Harry just nodded slightly before getting up off the bed and walking over to the window to look out of it. His back still facing Hermione, he spoke.

"He didn't go into all of the details but told me a fair amount."

Hermione repeated after him again subconciously. "A fair amount."

Taking this as a question, Harry turned around to face her. "Well, he didn't go into all the information about the spell you guys are going to use after I...play my part... or why the two of you will be able to cast it. He just told me to trust him when he says it will work, and so I did. That was enough information for me." Harry's voice had wavered a bit as he spoke, but otherwise he was doing a very good job at staying calm.

Hermione sighed in relief while trying not to make it so conspicuous. She didn't want Harry to start asking unwanted questions. _So he doesn't know about us or anything about the spell_, were the comforting thoughts running through Hermione's head.

Knowing it would seem strange if she didn't respond, she asked as casually as possible, "So you know what the final part of the plan is?"

Turning back towards the window, Harry stood there in silence for a moment before speaking again. "I know what the final part of the plan is, my role in it, yours and Malfoy's role in it, the reason why you've been avoiding me..." he purposefully let his voice trail off.

Hermione almost felt her heart stop beating for a moment. She quickly got up off the bed and went to Harry's side. "Harry, I...you...", she began terribly, but Harry put his hand up to silence her.

He turned to face her. "I don't need an explanation, Hermione. It was my fault. I should've thought about the impact all of this was having on you. Ever since," here he paused, having difficulty with continuing, "Ron's death, our relationship hasn't been the same. We haven't been all that open with each other. And with that change, we forgot that we are supposed to be there for each other." Harry had both his hands on Hermione's shoulders, his face filled with distraught and grief.

"I'm sorry about all this Hermione, really I am. I wish just as much as you do that things wouldn't have to end this way." His willing voice had suddenly become defeated.

Hermione looked into Harry's green eyes and was crushed to see the pain that filled them. Draco had been right. She needed to be there for Harry. Seeing him in pain hurt her so much. Somehow her own pain had suddenly numbed and now she felt like she was taking in Harry's pain, suffering with him. Her eyes almost filled with tears at seeing him so broken.

Before Hermione could provide any solace or comfort, though, Harry had taken his hands off of her shoulder and had turned his back to her. Walking a few steps away from her, he looked up at the ceiling and contemplated for a second before speaking aloud.

"How are you supposed to deal with the fact of knowing that you are going to die?" he asked no one in particular, running his hands through his hair.

As his words hit Hermione's ears, her lip quivered as tears began to blur her vision. She ran up to Harry and spinning him around, took him in her embrace.

Resting his chin on the top of her head, he asked more quietly this time, tears running down his face, "How are you supposed to deal with that, Hermione? How?"

His words made the two of them cry even harder. Their only comfort being each other, they held one another in a tight embrace.

"How, Hermione? How?" his words died down to a barely audible whisper.

Hermione just shook her head slightly as it rested on Harry's shoulder. "I don't know Harry. I don't know." She whispered. And it was the truth. She didn't know because she had been asking herself that question too and had been longing for some kind of answer.

"But you know what Harry?" she continued. "No matter what is going to end up happening, it's all going to be okay."

And as Harry and Hermione both contemplated on these words, they realized just how true they were. No matter what fate had in store for them, in the end, everything _was_ going to be fine. Even if it was at a cost. A cost of life.

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It was only a few days later that the Final Battle arrived and the Order was proud to say that they were well-prepared:

Hermione made her way through the Forbidden Forest where the battle was taking place with some difficulty, as there were many branches blocking her path. The only good thing was that she didn't have to fight off Death Eaters in this part of the forest. They were too busy dueling at the outskirts.

To be honest, Hermione had much to be happy about. Her plan had worked marvelously. They had been able to kill off many of the Death Eaters with very few losses on their side. Tonks, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley were doing a wonderful job in leading the other Order members into battle, so well that the Death Eaters were no longer outnumbering them. It was clear that the good side was winning.

But her happiness was short-lived when she thought about where she was headed. She was off looking for Harry. They were two hours into the battle and Draco and her needed to make it to Harry so they could finish off Voldemort when the time came.

Hermione continued to trudge silently, wrapping Harry's Invisibility Cloak tightly around her so she wouldn't be seen if she were to accidentally stumble upon Voldemort.

Less than five minutes later, Hermione did stumble upon somebody, but she was relieved to say that it was not Voldemort. She had instead bumped into the invisible figure of Draco Malfoy.

Draco took the hood of the cloak off when Hermione's fell off her head. His eyes were filled with a little bit of worry as they quickly inspected Hermione to see if she had been injured in any way. His grip on her shoulders relaxed and his face showed relief when he found that she was unharmed.

"You have good timing. Harry is beginning to run low on energy but he's holding out. He's been pretty successful in weakening Voldemort for us." While he said this, he poked his head out from behind the tree to where Voldemort and Harry were dueling.

He turned back to Hermione to see her watching him. He looked at her questioningly.

"It's just that…I can't believe this is the end of it. We're really going to do it, kill Voldemort, I mean."

Draco looked at her sympathetically, knowing how overwhelmed she must be feeling. "I know, Hermione. What Harry has to do is hard, but we have to do isn't going to be any easier. You and I know that and that's precisely why I didn't get into the details of the spell we have to perform." He paused to see Hermione look a bit pained but otherwise determined and calm.

"I know, Draco." Hermione began and was about to say more before Draco stopped her by kissing her.

Hermione let herself sink into Draco's arms, which now had a firm hold on her waist. It was nothing passionate, rather more for comfort.

Draco lingered a little before ending it. He took a step back from Hermione and took her hands in his.

"Are you ready?" he asked softly.

Hermione nodded. They both put the cloak over their faces before Draco took Hermione's hand in his so they wouldn't lose each other. With that, the two of them slowly inched their way closer and closer to where Harry and Voldemort were dueling.

They had found a perfect place to stand at the side as the two kept shooting curses at one another. They didn't stand there for too long but for Hermione, that little time felt like eternity. It took every bit of self-control to prevent herself from rushing to Harry's side every time he hit the ground.

Perhaps the worst part for Hermione was the fact that Harry knew she was there and yet she could do nothing. Hermione had used the same method that the Order had used when trying to contact her to let Harry know that Draco and her had arrived. Harry's wand had glowed green for a moment during the duel. Luckily, Voldemort was too caught up in trying to kill Harry to notice.

It was about five minutes after Hermione signaled Harry of their arrival that Harry dropped to the ground, feeling too weak to get up. And suddenly, Hermione felt like the five minutes were all too short. When Hermione saw the two fateful words about to come out of Voldemort's mouth, she whipped out her wand and was about to Stun him if it were not for Draco's fast reflexes. He grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Hermione, you can't do anything. The stun wouldn't affect him and it would only blow our cover. Harry has accepted this. There is nothing we can do but wait." He whispered to her.

Hermione almost felt like crying. She wanted to close her eyes or at least turn away, but she couldn't. Her body wouldn't let her move at all.

And then the words hit her ears. _Avada Kedavra_. She watched painfully as green light flashed and Harry's body was hit.

But Hermione didn't fail to hear Harry's last words before he died. "Finish him off Hermione. Remember, everything _needs_ to be okay."

Seeing her best friend die right in front of her eyes and hearing his last words stimulated Hermione in a way she never thought possible. She felt a new level of anger and hatred toward Voldemort; her eyes blazed with such fire that her mere gaze could burn a tree.

Hermione and Draco took a last look at Harry's lifeless body before taking the hoods of the cloaks just off their faces so they could see each other. Voldemort was too busy trying to catch his breath and assess what just happened to see their movements in the corner.

Hermione and Draco nodded to each other before pulling off their Invisibility Cloaks all together and pointed their wands straight at Voldemort's chest.

The smirk and pure joy at seeing Harry dead was quickly replaced with utter shock. And before Voldemort could even react, the voices of Hermione and Draco could be heard saying in unison,

"_Diligo Vitualamen!_"

Suddenly, there was a jet of silver light coming out of Draco's wand and a jet of gold from Hermione's. The two colors entangled with one another, spinning faster and faster until they finally hit Voldemort straight in the chest, knocking him backwards and instantly ending his pathetic life.

But the spell's magic was not yet done. The wave of gold and silver light surrounded Hermione and Draco, constantly spinning around them.

Hermione looked at Draco, knowing full well what was about to happen: the result of the spell. He returned the look and smiled at her.

"I love you, Hermione."

"I love you too, Draco." She replied, her heart and mind feeling very much at ease. Voldemort was gone, she had fulfilled her promise to Viktor, Ron, and Harry, and she was with Draco. She was thoroughly content with her life. There was nothing left for her in this world. Now that everything was okay, it was time to move on.

They gave each other a nod before holding hands and closing their eyes as the light from the spell spun around them faster and faster until it created a blur of gold and silver around their two bodies. Their pendants flew from the center of their necks to the side, and the two halves were joined into a whole by the light, making a heart that shone a brilliant gold and silver, lighting up the sky for nearly a mile.

And then suddenly, everything was calm. The waves of light vanished, revealing the forms of Hermione and Draco on the ground, still and unmoving. Their faces had small smiles on them and they looked at peace. Their joined hands had slightly loosened and in their two palms sat the pendants that they had been wearing around their necks for so long.

But the pieces had not separated to two halves again after the spell had finished its work; the magic of the spell had connected them together. The heart was shining a beautiful, shimmering gold entwined with shimmering silver.

The glowing heart that sat in their hands spoke a thousand words. Hermione and Draco knew that this was where they were meant to be, together for all eternity.

The End

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**Hey you guys! Here is the ending of this story. I really hope you enjoyed it because it was a great experience writing it. I'm sorry the last chapter came so late, but I pretty much rewrote this whole part so it took a while.**

**Please give me some feedback on what you thought. It took a lot of work to write so I'd really like to know what your guys thoughts on it were. It will help give me an idea of what my new story plan will be. Also, if you think this should also be in another genre other than romance, do let me know because I wasn't all that sure.**

**Before I end this little speech of mine, I'd like to take the time to specifically thank the following:**

**My Alert List People: AshBailey, potterhead0013**

**My Favorites List People: KKM and Linthilde**

**And I'd like to dedicate this ending most specifically to my two reviewers, Paige and k la sk8. Reviews really do brighten up my whole day and if they are not anonymous, I always reply to them. So hint hint, keep them coming. :)**

**Thanks for all your support through this whole process. It really means a lot. I hope I didn't disappoint.**

**Until next time:D**

**Aastha**


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